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J^ood  Fundamentals 


A  View  of  III- Health  as 
Caused  by  Wrong'  Habits 
of  Living-  and  a  Discus- 
sion of  Food  Based  on 
Experience  from  the 

Viewpoint  of  an  Osteopathic 
Physician 


e\\h.  bean,  d.  o. 


Copyright  1916 
E.  H.  BEAN 


TO  MY  MOTHER 
Who  is  seventy-three  years  of  age  and  has  never  been  ill. 


PREFACE 

Only  those  who  have  freed  themselves  from  think- 
ing in  the  ordinary  and  much  worn  channels  turn  to 
osteopathy  as  their  profession.  And  this  applied  with 
greater  force  to  those  who  championed  osteopathy  in 
its  earlier  days  than  it  does  now.  I  spent  three  and 
one-half  years  in  Kirksville,  Mo.,  the  first  half  year  to 
regain  sufficient  health  to  enter  the  school  and  the 
remainder  of  the  time  to  take  the  course  in  osteopathy. 
During  this  time  I  greatly  profited  by  the  privilege  of 
close  association  v/ith  Dr.  A.  T.  Still,  the  Founder  of 
Osteopathy,  as  he  chose  to  make  use  of  my  services  in 
getting  out  his  latest  book,  "Osteopathy,  Research  and 
Practice."  Whatever  was  left  in  me  of  narrowness  of 
mind,  of  biased  opinion,  of  prejudice  in  thinking,  of 
following  in  the  customary  paths  of  mental  activity, 
received  a  forceful  and  lasting  shock  as  I  gathered  a 
close  glimpse  of  an  invincible  mind  expanded  by  orig- 
inal thinking;  a  mind  which  finds  it  easy  to  soar  into 
the  clouds  above  ordinary  thought  —  that  master  mind 
of  Dr.  Still.  His  words  are  still  ringing  in  my  ears: 
"Keep  your  mud  valves  open  and  your  engine  in  such 
condition  that  you  can  move  out  of  the  hearing  of 
theories,  and  halt  for  all  coming  days  by  the  side  of 
the  river  of  the  pure  waters  of  reason  and  be  able  to 
demonstrate  that  which  you  assert." 

Having  been  educated  as  a  teacher  and  having 
followed  that  profession  for  ten  years  it  was  only 
natural  that  the  author  would  try  to  answer  the  ques- 
tions directed  to  him  in  practice  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  inquirer  would  be  able  to  get  his  point  of  view 
accurately.  To  constantly  keep  doing  this  lead  to 
extensive  investigation,  observation  and  an  endless 
amount  of  reading. 

A  life-long  battle  with  stomach  and  intestinal 
trouble  impelled  him  to  an  open  mind  in  regard  to  the 
usefulness  of  a  proper  diet.  From  the  first  he  supple- 
mented his  osteopathy  with  what  he  knew  on  the  sub- 
ject of  diet.  He  believes  his  per  cent  of  cures  has  been 
materially  increased  by  using  diet  and  his  sphere  of 
usefulness  very  much  enlarged.    His  views  of  diseases. 


diet,  and  osteopathy  have  not  always  been  readily  ac- 
cepted by  his  clientele.  They  have  kept  him  constantly  \  Q  \ 
awake  and  alert  to  what  is  going  on  in  the  different 
fields  of  medicine,  and  as  time  passed  he  found  himself 
as  truly  engaged  in  educational  work  as  though  he 
spent  every  hour  of  the  day  in  the  schoolroom. 

J  The  author  found  that  people  would  not  or  could 

l^      not  follow  any  ideas  of  diet  that  were  at  all  compre- 
v      hensive  without  they  were  reduced  to  writing.     For 
!^      years  he  has  refused  to  give  instructions  in  diet  with- 
out writing  them  out.    Having  the  fundamentals  before 
his  patient  he  was  able  to  give  them  details  which  they 
^      could  easily  grasp  and  carry  out.     But  this  required 
::^      much  additional  explanation.    This  book,  then,  is  the 
result  of  an  open  mind  accepting  truths  fearlesslj'', 
3*^   and   of  carrying   out   a   practice   along   these   lines. 
^     It  is  to  fill  a  need  of  my  clientele.     It  was  written 
^     primarily  for  those  with  whom  the  author  comes  in 
*     contact,  for  it  requires  personal  effort,  personal  mes- 
i     sages  frequently  repeated,  to  bring  about  a  change  in 
5     habits  of  eating.     If,  perchance,  a  single  physician 
may   grasp  these  fundamentals   and  teach  them  to 
others,  the  author  will  be  highly  repaid  for  putting 
_^     them  in  this  form. 

"?  The  quotations  used  have  been  gleaned  in  an  un- 

4     usual  way.    They  are  not  an  unbroken  section  of  the 
^     writings  from  which  they  were  taken,  but  a  collection 
^     of  short  passages,   rearranged   and   assembled   with 
slight  omissions  or  additions  or  changes  necessary  for 
the  present  arrangement,  and  because  of  this  the  cus- 
tomary markings  showing  just  where  the  passage  came 
.from  could  not  well  be  used.    Care  has  been  exercised 
j4    to  use  these  assembled  quoted  expressions  in  such  a 
^    way  as  to  carry  their  original  meaning,  and  to  give 
credit  in  each  case.     Certain  expressions  and  phrase- 

■  ology  taken  from  "Christianizing  the  Social  Order," 
by  Walter  Rauschenbusch,  have  been  used  in  such  a 
way  as  to  make  the  proper  markings  difficult,  so  this 
indirect  acknowledgment  is  made  and  credit  given. 

If  E.  H.  Bean. 

Columbus,  Ohio,  June  28,  1916. 
t "^r^cr  -J  Q 


Food  Fundamentals 


PART  ONE 
THE  POINT  OF  VIEW 

A  book  of  this  character  will  be  given  a  hearing 
only  by  a  few.  People  will  read  extensively  on  most 
any  subject  except  health.  They  will  read  carefully 
a  short  magazine  article  on  the  subject  of  health  if 
written  to  entertain  rather  than  to  instruct;  or,  if  it 
discusses  in  a  light  vein  the  curative  power  of  some 
medicine;  and  the  article  will  be  considered  of  par- 
ticular value,  and  read  with  due  reverence  and  awe 
if  it  is  amply  colored  with  superstition.  Too  much 
of  the  literature  on  health  is  fragmentary,  consisting 
of  the  advancement  of  one  meritorious  idea  with  no 
thought  or  notice  of  its  relation  to  other  vital  concep- 
tions. Too  much  of  it  is  wholly  false  and  results 
in  increasing  the  total  amount  and  severity  of  illness. 
Much  of  it  is  written  from  the  wrong  point  of  view. 
Literature  characterized  by  such  weaknesses  prepares 
the  reader  for  a  ready  acceptance  of  quackery  and 
pretension,  not  as  practiced  by  those  known  to  be 
charlatans,  but  by  impostors  with  a  high  standing 
in  society  and  the  community. 

Of  the  vast  amount  of  literature  that  has  grown 
up  about  health  and  cure  of  disease,  much  is  not 
fundamental,  does  not  deal  with  fundamentals.  But 
these  superficial  and  incomplete  articles  are  to  be  read 


4  Food  Fundamentals 

by  those  who  have  not  yet  gained  a  spindling  notion 
about  the  smallest  fundamentals  underlying  the  sub- 
ject. There  are  a  few  writers  who  have  contributed 
a  limited  number  of  books  on  this  subject  that  deal 
with  fundamentals,  and  a  study  of  such  literature 
should  be  a  part  of  the  education  of  every  child.  The 
author  would  not  attempt  to  make  a  complete  list,  but 
a  few  of  those  from  whom  he  has  gained  much  of 
what  must  be  considered  fundamental  are:  Louis 
Cornaro,  Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  M.  D.,  Dr.  E.  H.  Dewey,  M. 
D.,  Dr.  Daniel  S.  Sager,  M.  D.,  Dr.  J.  H.  Tilden,  M. 
D.,  Dr.  J.  H.  Kellogg,  M.  D.,  Hereward  Carrington, 
Horace  Fletcher. 

Louis  Cornaro,  an  Italian,  wrote  a  few  essays 
about  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  telling  how 
he  regained  his  health  at  forty  years  of  age  and  re- 
tained it.  He  lived  to  be  over  a  hundred  years  and 
enjoyed  health.  This  book,  or  its  translation,  is 
found  in  most  public  libraries  and  should  be  in  every 
home.  It  deals  with  one  fundamental  which  is  very 
much  up-to-date. 

"Our  Digestion,"  by  Dio  Lewis,  an  allopathic 
physician,  was  written  in  1872,  but  as  it  deals  with 
sensible  and  fundamental  ideas  it  will  always  be  stan- 
dard information,  and  is  much  ahead  of  most  of  the 
current  literature  of  today  on  health  subjects. 

"The  Art  of  Living  in  Good  Health,"  by  Daniel 
S.  Sager,  an  allopathic  physician,  is  replete  with  in- 
formation that  every  parent  should  know.    It  is  writ- 


Food  Fundamentals  5 

ten  in  a  calm  and  studied  tone;  it  is  concise  and  well 
indexed.  People  who  read  this  thoughtful  medical 
man's  book  will  not  fall  an  easy  victim  to  many  of 
the  medical  and  surgical  practices  of  today. 

"The  No  Breakfast  Plan  and  The  Fasting  Cure," 
by  E.  H.  Dewey,  an  allopathic  physician,  is  a  book 
with  a  message  that  conveys  a  wider  sight  and  purer 
conception  of  truth.  It  is  for  all  the  people,  not  alone 
for  physicians. 

The  writings  of  Dr.  J.  H.  Kellogg  are  illumi- 
nating, but  some  of  the  errors  into  which  they  lead 
one  who  follows  them  are  pointed  out  later  in  this 
book.     (Pages  40-47.) 

Dr.  J.  H.  Tilden,  an  allopathic  physician  of  Den- 
ver, Colo.,  is  a  prolific  and  virile  writer,  daring  and 
bold,  a  strong  force  for  right  thinking  on  health  sub- 
jects. His  books  on  "Food,"  "Diseases  of  Women," 
"Criticism  of  The  Practice  of  Medicine,"  and  articles 
in  Philosophy  of  Health  on  "Care  of  Children"  should 
all  be  read  by  those  who  think  they  understand  a 
little  about  modern  medicine. 

I  Whatever  else  may  be  found  in  the  writings  of 
these  men  there  stand  out  prominently  one  or  more 
ideas  easily  recognized  by  the  discerning  mind  as  a 
fundamental  truth.  None  of  them  are  wholly  right, 
and  no  writer  on  this  subject  is,  because  there  is  more 
to  be  known,  and  the  point  of  view  must  be  perfected. 
Having  gained  a  right  point  of  view  and  a  thorough 
understanding   of   the   underlying   fundamentals   the 


6  Food  Fundamentals 

weakness  of  any  author  is  easily  discovered  and  the 
usual  discussion  of  diet  and  health  under  various 
names  may  be  readily  classified  or  disregarded. 
There  is  a  tendency  to  neglect  the  acquisition  of 
information  about  food  and  diet,  but  when  the  attempt 
is  made  it  is  not  altogether  easy  to  decide  what  is 
truth  and  what  is  falsehood. 

But  these  are  books  that  every  parent  should 
read.  They  are  not  the  only  ones,  but  others  should 
not  be  substituted  for  these, — not  until  the  physician 
employed  has  read  and  studied  them.  And  because 
physicians  persist  in  shutting  their  minds  to  any  but 
a  narrow,  biased  consideration  of  things  pertaining 
to  health,  parents  must  discover  for  themselves  the 
fundamentals  and  the  right  direction  in  which  to  look 
and  move.  They  must  give  this  subject  time.  They 
must  read  more  than  a  magazine  or  newspaper 
article. 

Nothing  should  be  made  clearer  than  that  the 
mass  of  physicians  of  all  schools  are  ignorant  of  the 
fundamentals  put  forth  by  the  great  physicians  of 
all  ages  on  how  to  cure  and  prevent  diseases  by  right 
living  and  eating.  Not  even  the  best  schools  of  this 
or  any  country  offer  such  information  to  their  medical 
students.  They  are  crazy  about  germs  and  serums 
and  turn  out  doctors  who  are  crazy  on  these  same 
things.  After  leaving  school  the  doctor  must  find 
out  about  diet  and  right  living,  —  what  they  have  to 


Food  Fundamentals  7 

do  with  curing  and  preventing  of  disease.  Not  many 
give  their  time  to  securing  this  information,  once  they 
have  entered  practice. 

People  are  not  thinking  enough  about  how  to 
care  for  their  health  and  that  of  their  children. 
They  are  paying  physicians  to  do  their  thinking  for 
them,  for  what  he  may  know,  be  that  much  or  nothing. 
The  ignorance  of  the  general  public  on  this  subject  is 
so  great  that  most  anything  tainted  with  popular 
approval  will  find  its  way  into  newspapers,  maga- 
zines, and  books,  and  be  received  by  those  who  read 
it  with  one  hundred  per  cent,  approval.  "Ignorance 
in  preparing  and  combining  foods  is  universal,  and 
ignorance  of  a  need  of  knowledge  on  this  subject  is 
almost  universal."  (Tilden).  "It  is  inconceivable, 
the  ignorance  of  people  about  their  food.  Not  one 
man  in  ten  knows  anything  about  it  beyond  the  fact 
that  certain  things  taste  good,  and  certain  other  things 
do  not  taste  good."    (Dio  Lewis) . 

In  this  day  of  cults  and  isms,  all  grown  up  because 
of  the  signal  failure  of  medicine  and  its  domineering 
methods,  it  is  a  foremost  duty  of  a  household  to,  have 
first-hand  information  about  health-culture  before 
making  the  choice  of  a  family  physician.  The  wise 
choice  of  a  physician  these  days  becomes  the  choice 
of  an  individuality  rather  than  the  choice  of  a  prac- 
titioner of  some  certain  line  or  method  of  healing.  A 
few  of  each  school  have  properly  prepared  themselves 
for  the  task  of  teaching  people  how  to  live.     The 


8  Food  Fundamentals 

choosing  of  a  physician  is  the  choosing  of  a  person 
who  has  so  prepared  himself.  It  does  not  matter 
what  his  method  of  treatment,  if  it  lacks  this  essential 
it  is  fundamentally  deficient.  That  physician  who 
wields  successfully  a  reliable  method  of  therapeutics, 
joins  with  it  knowledge  and  experience  of  how  health 
is  regained  and  maintained  by  right  living,  and  has 
ability  as  a  teacher  of  his  clientele  in  these  matters, 
becomes  a  citizen  of  unusual  value  to  any  community. 
It  requires  honesty  of  the  pure  brand  —  honesty  with 
one's  self,  honesty  in  thinking.  How  many,  many 
physicians  keep  still  about  vaccination  though  they 
know  of  its  wrong,  excusing  their  attitude  by  think- 
ing they  can  be  of  more  use  by  securing  certificates  of 
exemption  for  a  few,  if  silent,  than  by  asserting  their 
convictions  in  the  face  of  organized  medicine.  This 
is  not  a  pure  brand  of  honesty,  and  the  illustration 
could  be  many  times  multiplied. 

That  physician  who  fully  grasps  the  truth  that 
disease  is  largely  a  product  of  wrong  habits  of  living, 
and  undertakes  to  teach  his  following  this  truth,  is 
met  not  only  with  listless  hearers,  but  with  the  oppo- 
sition of  a  strongly  entrenched  medical  profession 
who  thoroughly  understand  how  to  make  use  of  the 
associated  press;  and  with  the  daily  remarks  of 
ministers  and  editors  who  unwittingly  enforce  and 
reinforce  error.  He  builds  character  by  losing  good 
friends,  good  patients,  good  money,  and  refusing  to 
teach  buncombe  instead  of  truth.    It  requires  a  tre- 


Food  Fundamentals  9 

mendous  quantity  of  scientific  good  sense  to  combat 
wrong  habits  of  living,  and  there  are  not  many 
physicians  looking  for  the  job.  It  is  a  great  task 
demanding  a  great  faith  and  an  undying  zeal.  It 
does  not  increase  the  profits  but  brings  down  anathe- 
mas from  his  brothers  in  the  profession,  and  friends 
and  relatives  of  the  patient.  Such  a  physician  never 
gets  the  pay  to  which  he  is  entitled.  He  belittles 
himself  with  wisdom  instead  of  haloing  himself  with 
popular  opinion  and  surgeons'  instruments.  Human- 
ity revels  in  being  taken  as  near  Death's  door  as 
possible  without  dying  and  will  pay  a  great  fee  for  it. 
No  one  knows  how  people  will  resist  a  treatment  of 
rest  in  bed  and  a  limited  diet  unless  it  is  accompanied 
by  operation,  but  the  physician  who  makes  the 
attempt. 

People  are  looking  for  a  cure  in  a  bottle,  or  in  a 
bath,  or  in  electricity,  or  in  milk,  or  in  a  manipulation, 
or  what  not,  and  to  any  of  these  must  be  added  a  little 
sophistry  and  superstition.  "Humanity,  as  it  now 
exists,  does  not  want  to  be  told  how  to  live.  The  cry 
is  for  a  bottle  of  medicine,  and  not  for  advice."  (Dr. 
Daniel  S.  Sager,  Allopath).  Human  frailty  must 
limp  up  and  plead  guilty  to  a  conquering  tendency 
and  desire  to  be  relieved  of  illness  without  being  dis- 
turbed in  the  customary  manner  of  living.  And  to 
sleep,  eat,  work  and  indulge  as  one  desires  appeals  as 
such  a  very  sweet  reasonableness  that  it  is  usual  for 
those  who  become  ill  as  a  result  to  be  permitted  to 


10  Food  Fundamentals 

"drowse  on  with  the  sleeping  dogs  whom  none  cares  to 
stir."  Instead  of  making  suitable  investigation  for 
themselves,  sick  people  follow  each  and  every  idea 
recommended  to  them  by  friend  or  stranger.  It  does 
not  matter  or  seem  to  be  of  any  importance  how 
ignorant  of  the  body  or  the  laws  of  health  the  pro- 
moter of  the  idea  may  be.  It  is  some  easy  way  of 
obtaining  health  that  appeals;  some  short-cut  that 
will  permit  the  sufferer  to  continue  to  indulge  his 
usual  habits. 

It  does  not  require  much  space  to  say  all  that  it 
is  necessary  for  each  individual  to  know  about  foods. 
It  takes  more  effort  and  time  to  set  people  to  thinking 
right,  to  eradicate  wrong  notions,  to  remove  prejudice, 
and  to  get  them  to  realize  the  importance  of  giving 
attention  to  dietary  measures  and  right  habits  of 
living  than  it  does  to  instruct  them  about  food. 

Many  are  willing  to  make  a  change  in  their 
habits  of  living  and  eating  when  they  are  freed  from 
a  few  false  notions  and  see  the  reason  for  the  change. 
There  is  profound  relief  in  knowing  that  there  are 
always  a  few  who  keep  in  hailing  distance  of  common 
sense.  The  time  is  not  far  in  the  distance  when  many 
will  be  willing  to  pay  physicians  to  teach  them  to  so 
live  that  they  may  remain  well.  Not  a  few,  however, 
prefer  to  lessen  their  number  of  years  here  on  earth 
and  continue  to  indulge  as  of  old. 

People  will  not;  think  and  act  along  healthful 
lines  until  the  trend  of  their  thought  about  disease 


Food  Fundamentals  11 

has  been  ruptured  and  detached  from  their  unyielding 
faith  in  falsehoods,  some  of  which  have  been  knit  into 
every  fiber  of  their  being  from  infancy  and  about 
which  the  roots  of  their  mind  are  coiled  as  the  roots 
of  a  flower  in  a  flower-pot.  Living  a  healthful  life  is 
an  individual  matter,  and  none  will  ever  know  just 
what  the  other  fellow  should  do.  But  there  is  enough 
known  to  get  a  view  of  the  fundamental  lines  along 
which  we  must  move  to  leave  behind  the  antiquated 
and  harmful  customs,  the  "policy  of  tinkering  and  pal- 
liatives." We  can  point  the  direction  which  leads  to  a 
plan  that  revolves  around  a  different  axis  and  carries 
with  it  a  conspicuous  glow  of  virtue. 


GERMS. 
There  is  no  greater  obstacle  to  right  teaching 
about  health  and  disease  today  than  the  erroneous 
teachings  about  germs.  There  are  germs,  to  be  sure ; 
germs  that  are  peculiar  to  the  condition  called  typhoid 
fever,  pneumonia,  malaria,  etc.  But  the  part  played 
by  the  germ  in  disease  or  in  health  is  not  understood. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  very  thoroughly  misunder- 
stood. If  the  terms  in  all  our  literature  referring  to 
germs,  microbes,  etc.,  as  causing  disease  could  be 
blotted  out  and  the  term  poison  put  in  their  place, 
the  idea  conveyed  would  be  more  nearly  the  truth. 
The  difference  is  fundamental, — fundamental  in  con- 
ception and  fundamental  in  applying  a  treatment. 
The  ordinary  conception  and  teaching  is  that  the  mul- 


12  Food  Fundamentals 

tiplying  of  poisonous  germs  cause  the  disease,  and 
every  effort  is  put  forth  to  kill  the  germs.  Accumu- 
lation of  poisons  do  the  damage,  not  the  accumulation 
of  germs,  and  every  effort  should  be  put  forth  to  pre- 
vent the  accumulation  of  the  poisons.  Measures  that 
will  prevent  and  do  away  with  the  accumulation  of 
poisons  are  very  different,  indeed,  from  those  put 
forth  to  kill  germs.  But  those  things  that  will  ac- 
complish this  result  regarding  the  poisons  will  do 
away  with  the  presence  of  the  poisonous  germs  in 
any  great  number. 

It  is  taught  that  before  a  germ  can  cause  disease 
there  must  be  a  lowered  resistance  of  the  body.  The 
lowered  resistance  is  disease  and  is  present  before 
the  poison  germ  makes  its  appearance.  The  thing 
that  brought  about  the  lowered  resistance  is  the  cause 
of  the  disease.  All  the  causes  of  disease  may  be  put 
in  two  great  classes:  First,  errors  in  living;  second, 
the  Osteopathic  lesion.  A  brief  explanation  of  the 
relation  of  Osteopathy  to  disease  is  found  elsewhere 
in  this  book. 

These  are  the  things  that  reduce  the  vitality, 
lower  the  resistance  —  bring  about  disease.  The 
germs  may  be  regarded  as  scavengers,  but  this  is  but 
a  fragmentary  idea  of  them.  They  may  also  be 
regarded  as  helpful  workers  in  dissipating  disease 
processes.  It  is  their  business  to  take  up  or  ingest 
poisonous  or  waste  material  and  to  so  change  and 
surround  this  material  as  to  make  it  least  harmful  to 


Food  Fundamentals  13 

the  elements  of  the  blood,  the  lymphatic  fluid,  and  the 
nervous  system.  Unless  the  material  the  germs 
ingest  is  poison  they  are  harmless.  It  has  been  shown 
that  the  typhoid  germ  is  often  present  without  typhoid 
fever.  The  same  thing  is  known  about  the  germ  of 
tuberculosis,  pneumonia,  gonorrhea,  syphilis,  malaria, 
etc.  The  entrance  of  these  germs  into  the  body  does 
not  necessarily  mean  disease.  They  are  not  always 
poisonous. 

When  the  body's  resistance  is  lowered,  elimina- 
tion is  restricted  and  the  fluids  and  secretions  become 
poisonous,  then  the  germs  ingesting  this  poison  makes 
it  less  harmful  to  the  body,  but  they  are  poisoned  in 
the  act,  and  they  receive  all  the  blame  for  everything 
that  goes  on,  our  bad  habits  being  entirely  excused 
from  the  matter.  The  white  blood  cells  can  carry  away 
more  poison  after  it  is  ingested  by  germs  or  changed 
by  them  than  if  the  white  cells  were  to  surround  the 
poison  directly;  and  it  will  not  be  so  harmful  to  the 
white  cells.  The  white  cells  had  better  be  regarded 
as  white  angels  than  policemen. 

It  is  barely  possible  that  in  some  conditions  in 
some  few  cases  the  dissolution  of  the  tissues  in  dis- 
ease is  so  rapid  and  the  multiplying  of  germs  so 
furious  that  it  would  seem  that  their  enormous  pro- 
duction is  a  menace  to  life  and  health.  But  if  the 
accompanying  conditions  are  understood  and  prop- 
erly interpreted  such  a  thing  is  quite  unlikely.  It  is 
well  to  look  upon  such  an  interpretation  of  facts  with 


14  Food  Fundamentals 

suspicion  until  the  evidence  is  better  than  is  offered 
today.  The  sluggish,  filthy  sea  of  poisonous  secretions 
in  which  the  millions  of  germs  are  found  wallowing 
are  not  usually  of  their  own  making,  but  rather  the 
logical  outcome  of  a  depleted  system  overcome  by 
forced  digestion  and  accumulation  of  poisons.  A  very 
good  and  efficient  proof,  one  acceptable  to  those 
searching  for  the  truth  regardless  of  its  source,  is  to 
take  away  food,  supply  osteopathic  treatment,  and 
proper  eliminating  measures. 

The  germ  does  not  determine  the  character  of 
tiie  disease.  The  method  of  elimination,  the  mem- 
branes chosen  by  the  system  for  that  purpose,  the 
breaking  down  of  some  organ  because  poisons  are  not 
eliminated  are  factors  that  determine  the  character 
of  disease, — ^the  symptoms  that  become  manifest. 

In  all  diseased  conditions  there  is  an  accumula- 
tion of  poisons.  These  must  be  gotten  rid  of.  If  the 
ordinary  channels  of  elimination  are  overworked 
then  tissues  whose  function  is  such  that  it  can  be 
perverted  or  brought  into  wrong  functioning  to 
accomplish  the  immediate  demands  are  appropriated. 
These  tissues  are  most  often  the  mucous  membranes. 
If  the  intestines  are  broken  down  by  overwork,  the 
wrong  functioning  that  results  is  spoken  of  as  typhoid 
fever.  In  such  an  extreme  emergency  every  mem- 
brane of  the  body  is  brought  into  use  for  extra  work. 
And  the  physician  usually  sets  about  trying  to  get 
these  tissues  to  stop  their  work.      He  treats  symp- 


Food  Fundamentals  15 

toms.  The  typhoid  germ  is  busy  in  the  intestinal 
glands  because  it  is  well  adapted  to  work  there  and 
can  live  longest  on  the  poisonous  food  it  finds  there. 
But  there  are  other  germs  beside  the  typhoid  in  the 
intestines  working  just  as  hard  as  it.  These  germs 
are  ignored  as  a  cause  of  the  disease.  Why?  Be- 
cause they  are  also  found  elsewhere  in  the  body. 
They  are  the  kind  that  can  work  anywhere. 

Syphilis  or  gonorrhea  are  not  diseases  caused  by 
a  specific  germ.  They  are  filth  diseases.  The  mem- 
branes break  down  from  irritation  and  abuse,  poison- 
ous secretions  are  permitted  to  collect,  and  absorption 
of  septic  poison  results.  Treated  sanely  the  symp- 
toms are  not  very  severe.  The  three  stages  of 
syphilis  are  different  stages  of  drug  medication.  All 
the  bad  symptoms  come  from  the  usual  drug  medica- 
tion. You  think  not?  Why?  Because  the  regular 
doctors  say  not?  Let  me  ask  you  how  many  cases 
they  have  treated  by  letting  the  drugs  alone?  Then 
how  can  they  know?  Be  honest  in  your  answer  and 
thinking.  If  men  were  honest  in  their  thinking  there 
would  not  be  so  many  diseases.  Measles,  mumps, 
scarlet  fever,  and  all  the  so-called  contagious  diseases 
are  no  more  contagious  than  pneumonia  or  catarrh. 
If  a  man  has  a  carbuncle  and  a  fever  and  you  breathe 
the  poisons  from  his  breath,  you  will  be  poisoned.  It 
may  not  make  you  sick,  and  it  may.  If  it  did  you 
would  probably  think  you  had  taken  a  cold.  People 
usually  excuse  some  symptom  they  do  not  understand 


16  Food  Fundamentals 

by  saying,  "I  think  I  caught  cold."  If  you  breathe 
the  breath  of  a  person  with  measles  you  will  be 
poisoned,  and  this  will  be  true  even  if  you  have  had 
measles  before.  Measles  are  caused  by  effete  material 
in  the  body  accumulated  from  overeating,  wrong  eat- 
ing, excess  of  clothing,  and  a  condition  of  the  atmos- 
phere which  favors  this  disease.  That  is  all  there  is 
to  the  contagion  idea  in  any  disease.  A  family  live 
about  the  same  and  its  members  are  likely  to  have 
similar  diseases.  Especially  is  this  true  when  they 
have  fed  themselves  on  winter  foods  during  the 
warmer  part  of  the  winter  and  spring  as  well  as 
during  the  colder  part.  Then  with  too  much  clothing 
the  elimination  of  the  skin  is  impaired.  The  air  be- 
comes warmer  and  damper  and  decomposition  of  the 
foliage  of  trees,  shrubs,  and  grass  becomes  profuse 
and  the  air  poisoned  with  it.  Then  the  whole  family 
or  ne^'ghborhood  has  the  disease,  and  why  not?  But 
the  germ  is  still  helpful  and  not  the  disease-producing 
agency. 

The  reason  why  one  does  not  have  measles  or 
some  other  disease  more  than  once  is  just  as  easily 
explained  from  this  point  of  view  as  any  other.  The 
fact  is  they  often  do  have  the  disease  called  measles 
or  small-pox  more  than  once.  But  that  the  body 
builds  a  resistance  against  all  diseases  cannot  be  ques- 
tioned. And  that  it  sometimes  succeeds  in  so  fortify- 
ing itself  against  certain  poisons  that  they  never  will 
again  produce  the  same  results  cannot  be  questioned. 


Food  Fundamentals  17 

I  think  this  occurs  in  many  more  diseases  than  is 
usually  thought.  No  doubt  it  often  occurs  in  pneu- 
monia, typhoid,  etc.  The  person  who  has  had  measles 
and  who  is  again  the  victim  of  bad  habits  of  eating 
and  living  and  the  climate  and  exposure  that  once 
produced  it,  does  not  go  free  from  bad  results.  They 
become  the  subject  of  some  other  disorder.  The  re- 
sistance against  the  poison  may  be  so  great  that  the 
same  amount  of  elimination  is  not  called  for  that  was 
needed  when  the  body  first  yielded,  but  the  extra  poison 
will  demand  extra  attention.  From  this  point  of  view 
how  absurd  it  is  to  inject  poisons  into  the  system  by 
vaccination,  the  worst  of  all  being  that  for  small-pox. 
Typhoid  fever  vaccination  does  not  prove  the  disease  is 
caused  by  a  germ.  The  greatest  result  gained  from 
such  a  procedure  is  that  this  measure  is  followed  by  less 
drugging.  Less  drugging  and  more  sanitation  explain 
the  results  that  are  now  being  gained  in  the  preven- 
tion of  typhoid  fever.  Malarial  fever  has  not  been 
banished  by  killing  the  mosquito.  Draining  and 
[drugging  the  marshes  may  have  done  away  with  the 
mosquito,  but  it  also  purifies  the  air  from  decomposi- 
tion products,  and  here  is  the  explanation  of  the 
results.  Breathe  the  air  from  decaying  vegetation, 
leat  enough  to  have  the  food  decay  in  the  intestines, 
wear  enough  clothing  to  close  the  pores  of  the  skin, 
[and  with  a  suitable  atmospheric  temperature  and 
^humidity,  you  will  have  malarial  fever  where  there  is 
fnever  a  mosquito. 


18  Food  Fundamentals 

Internal  sanitation  is  needed  as  much  as  external. 
It  is  much  more  important  that  each  individual  on  a 
crowded,  illy-ventilated,  overheated  street  car  has  a 
sweet  and  pure  breath  than  it  is  for  the  hanging 
straps  to  be  cleansed  from  germs.  A  foul  breath  is 
poison,  and  one  who  is  compelled  to  inhale  it  should 
cry  out  against  the  imposition  and  start  a  laymen's 
school  to  teach  people  and  physicians  where  to  lay 
emphasis. 

The  medical  profession  are  finding  it  very  hard  to 
undo  the  work  of  false  teaching  that  it  has  promul- 
gated for  centuries,  and  none  will  be  more  difficult  to 
eradicate  than  the  teachings  about  germs,  stimulants, 
and  foods.  When  they  untimely  discover  they  are 
promulgating  a  wrong  idea  they  lay  the  blame  on  the 
advertising  doctor.  But  it  should  be  observed  that 
the  advertising  doctors  only  perpetuate  the  wrong 
teaching  once  started  by  the  regular  profession.  They 
perpetuate  the  idea  that  backache  is  from  kidney 
derangement.  The  regular  profession  started  the 
idea;  now  they  recognize  it  as  an  error.  So  it  is 
with  many  other  ideas. 

That  germs  cause  disease  has  been  unfalteringly 
accepted  by  the  people  en  masse,  and  certain  good  has 
resulted.  There  is  improvement  in  sanitation  and 
hygiene  which  is  always  to  be  commended.  But  there 
is  no  greater  menace  to  the  health  of  people  today  than 
the  teaching  about  germs.  The  distorted  truth  about 
germs  has  shunted  the  vision  astray  from  the  real 


Food  Fundamentals  19 

cause  of  disease  and  has  resulted  in  blinded  efforts  to 
palliate  and  relieve,  and  a  damnable  neglect  of  the 
stiffening  of  the  will  against  the  continuance  of  un- 
healthful  habits  of  living.  Wrong  teaching  about 
germs  has  instilled  into  the  minds  of  many  a  poisonous 
fear  which  in  itself  is  a  curse  to  good  health. 

"In  this  connection  the  question  may  arise  as  to 
the  influence  of  germs  or  microbes  in  disease.  Germs 
or  microbes  of  whatever  character  are  powerless  to 
injure  a  healthy  man.  If  this  were  not  so  we  should 
all  die  of  germ  diseases,  for  we  live  in  an  atmosphere 
of  germs,  breathing  tuberculosis,  diphtheria,  scarlet 
fever,  measles,  etc.  It  is  only  when  the  body  is  re- 
duced or  brought  down  from  its  high  plane  of  vigor 
and  vitality  to  a  low  level  that  it  yields  to  the  influence 
of  noxious  microbes. 

If  tubercle  germs  are  injected  into  the  skin  of  a 
healthy  man  he  will  not  suffer  in  the  least,  and  un- 
doubtedly, as  has  been  proved,  a  healthy  individual 
can  swallow  various  germs  and  suffer  no  ill  effects. 

In  many  instances  it  is  a  question  whether  germs 
are  not  a  result  rather  than  the  cause  of  disease.  The 
germs  themselves  are  not  so  poisonous  as  their  toxins 
or  excreta. 

I  There  are  many  points  about  disease  yet  remain- 
ing to  be  solved.  We  know  that  in  many  instances  the 
bacilli  of  diphtheria  may  be  found  in  the  mouth  of  an 
individual  and  long  remain  harmless  to  him.  This 
may  go  on  for  an  unlimited  period,  or  these  bacilli 
may  suddenly  take  an  active  or  malignant  form  from 
causes  which  seem  to  be  as  yet  beyond  our  under- 
standing. Unquestionably  the  body  of  a  healthy  man 
has  the  power  to  destroy  any  or  all  germs  or  microbes. 
Many  of  the  so-called  disease  germs,  the  bacilli  of  con- 
sumption, typhoid  fever,  and  others,  have  had  an  ex- 
istence for  centuries,  and  they  will  still  continue  this 
existence  so  long  as  time  lasts,  for  they  form  an  in- 


20  Food  Fundamentals 

tegral  part  of  the  life  of  plants.  Just  as  a  tree  is  not 
killed  by  cutting  off  its  leaves,  neither  is  consumption, 
diphtheria,  pneumonia,  or  any  other  so-called  germ 
disease  prevented  by  destroying  the  bacilli.  We  live 
in  a  world  of  germs,  and  we  know  absolutely  nothing 
of  many  of  the  forms  of  germ-life,  because  we  have 
no  microscopes  sufficiently  powerful  to  show  them; 
but  this  does  not  prevent  us  from  knowing  that  these 
minute  forms  of  life  exist,  —  we  know  they  exist  by 
their  effects  on  plant  and  human  life.  This  only  em- 
phasizes the  importance  of  cultivating  habits  of  good 
living  for  the  sake  of  absolute  immunity.  By  a  well 
regulated  natural  life  we  can  keep  our  bodies  in  such 
condition  that  they  will  resist  disease  of  any  kind." 
(Dr.  Daniel  S.  Sager,  Allopath.) 

"That  these  germs  are  actually  present  I  do  not 
for  one  moment  deny.  Their  presence  within  the  sys- 
tem, on  such  occasions,  is  not  the  cause  of  the  disease, 
but  merely  one  of  its  accompaniments.  If  they  are  the 
cause  they  must  be  present  before  the  disease  appears. 
Dr.  R.  L.  Watkins  examined  the  evidence  showing 
germs  are  not  present  before  the  disease,  and  says: 
It  is  claimed  that  these  bacilli  are  carried  to  the  tissues 
by  the  blood,  .  .  .  it  is  acknowledged  that  they 
have  never  been  found  in  the  blood.  Dr.  Lionel  S. 
Beale  also  contended  that  there  was  no  evidence  what- 
ever for  the  belief  that  the  bacilli  invariably  existed 
first,  while  there  was  strong  evidence  to  the  contrary. 
A.  H.  Hoy,  M.  D.,  in  "Eating  and  Drinking,"  holds 
the  idea  that  we  are  breathing,  eating,  drinking  germs 
all  the  time  at  the  rate  of  some  14,000  per  hour.  We 
cannot  possibly  keep  them  out  of  any  system ;  the  most 
healthy  body  doubtless  contains  the  germs  of  the  above 
mentioned  diseases  —  if  not  this  minute,  then  probably 
the  next,  or  the  next  —  for  we  eat,  drink  and  breathe 
them  constantly.  Why,  then,  do  we  not  all  have  ty- 
phoid, and  consumption,  and  cholera,  and  diphtheria? 
Simply  because  there  is  no  suitable  soil  in  our  bodies 
in  which  they  can  flourish;  no  food  material  upon 


Food  Fundamentals  21 

which  they  can  sustain  themselves ;  and  that  is  the  sole 
and  the  only  reason  why  we  do  not  all  have  these  dis- 
eases, and  all  others  supposedly  caused  by  germs. 

Now,  as  the  prime  object  in  the  cure  of  all  dis-" 
eases  is  the  elimination  of  offensive  material ;  and  since 
germs  do  help  in  its  elimination,  by  actually  feeding 
upon  it,  it  follows  that  all  germs  are  our  actual  friends 
or  benefactors  in  such  diseases,  helping  and  aiding 
us  rid  the  system  of  the  effete  material  that  it  contains, 
and  that  we  do,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  get  well  largely 
on  account  of  it,  and  certainly  not  in  spite  of,  their 
presence  —  as  it  has  always  been  taken  for  granted." 

(Hereward  Carrington.) 

If  the  germs  help  why  don't  we  get  well  every 
time?  Because  we  keep  feeding  the  germs  by  con- 
tinuing to  take  food.  The  poison  or  toxin  supposed 
to  be  caused  by  the  germ,  secreted  by  it,  are  brought 
about  by  the  medical  treatment  and  eating.  The 
germs  eat  up  the  poison  and  change  them  until  they 
are  less  harmful,  but  when  they  are  given  more  to 
eat  than  they  can  dispose  of  they  are  blamed  for 
secreting  the  poisons. 

"The  germ  theory  has  really  exploded,  and  if  it 
were  not  for  the  money  that  is  invested  in  it,  it  would 
crumble  into  naught;  but  now  that  millions  are  in- 
vested, it  must  be  kept  up  at  all  hazards.  There  is  not 
one  established  truth,  so  far  as  the  application  of  the 
germ  theory  to  the  cure  of  disease  is  concerned. 

We  hear  a  great  deal  about  controlling  diphtheria 
with  antitoxin.  Statistics  have  been  doctored  to  suit 
the  needs  in  bolstering  up  this  theory,  and  I  say  that 
honestly  compiled  statistics  would  prove  the  fallacy 
of  the  theory;  and  time  will  prove  the  truth  of  my 
statement. 

I  have  insisted,  for  years,  that  the  only  difference 
between  the  present  results  of  treating  severe  forms 


22  Food  Fundamentals 

of  diphtheria  with  antitoxin  and  the  treatment  of  diph- 
theria by  drugs  previous  to  the  advent  of  antitoxin, 
is  that  the  antitoxin  treatment  is  not  so  fatal  as  the 
previous  treatment.  In  other  words,  patients  treated 
with  antitoxin  have  a  better  opportunity  to  get  well; 
nature  has  a  better  opportunity  to  throw  off  disease; 
and  this  has  made  a  difference  in  the  results. 

But  the  test  for  the  diagnosis  of  diphtheria  is 
absolutely  false.  In  examining  a  number  of  school 
children,  the  diphtheritic  germs  can  be  found  in  more 
throats  that  are  not  sore  than  in  those  who  are  com- 
plaining of  a  sore  throat.  If  the  diphtheritic  germ  is 
the  cause  of  diphtheria,  it  will  cause  diphtheria  in 
everyone  in  whose  throat  it  finds  a  lodging-place.  This 
is  true,  or  there  is  not  any  truth  about  the  law  of  spe- 
cifics. The  fact  that  germs  of  all  kinds  can  be  found 
in  people  who  are  in  good  health  is  proof  sufficient  to 
any  reasonable  mind  that  germs  cannot  be  the  cause 
of  disease. 

So  long  as  the  average  person  knows  no  difference 
between  evidence  and  testimony,  medical  fallacy  will 
thrive.  A  world  of  testimony  need  not  necessarily 
carry  one  iota  of  evidence,  and  it  is  evidence  and  evi- 
dence alone,  that  counts;  and  if  everyone  who  bears 
testimony  in  favor  of  the  germ  theory  should  be  com- 
pelled to  speak  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing 
but  the  truth,  there  would  be  but  little  said  in  regard 
to  the  subject.  If  we  had  a  public  censor  —  one  who 
would  exclude  everything  that  could  not  be  proven  — 
he  would  exclude  nearly  everything  that  is  today  writ- 
ten on  the  subject  of  the  germ  theory. 

I  recognize  sepsis  as  the  only  infecting  agent  in 
all  so-called  specific  diseases.  The  toxic  element  in 
all  diseases  is  sepsis.  I  assume  that  all  secretions,  ex- 
cretions and  exudations  are  non-toxic  until  they  are 
forced  to  become  toxic  by  decomposition,  and  that  all 
germs  are  innocent  until  their  habitat  has  become 
toxic  from  putrefaction. 

The  thought  I  wish  to  convey  is  that  septic  poison- 
ing is  capable  of  appearing  as  puerperal  fever,  ery- 


Food  Fundamentals  23 

sipelas,  typhoid  fever,  bubonic  plague,  diphtheria, 
scarlet  fever,  w^ound  infection ;  indeed,  all  blood  poison- 
ings, including  gonorrhea  and  syphilis.  Septic  infec- 
tion is  virulent  in  proportion  to  the  amount  absorbed. 
All  discharges  from  wounds  and  inflamed  mucous  sur- 
faces are  peculiar  to  the  organs  affected,  but  w^hen 
these  discharges  are  pent  up  and  forced  to  take  on 
putrefaction,  the  poisoning  is  that  of  septicemia." 
(Dr.  J.  H.  TiLDEN,  Allopath.) 


DRUGS. 

Some  think  that  if  the  body  is  out  of  chemical 

balance  all  they  have  to  do  is  to  buy  some  drug  and 

take  it.     Nothing  is  farther  from  the  truth.     These 

substances  cannot  be  supplied  the  body  in  this  manner. 

The  people  have  been  wrongly  taught  about  iron 
as  an  important  element  of  food.  It  is  important,  and 
the  green  vegetables  are  a  valuable  means  of  supply- 
ing it  in  a  form  in  which  it  can  be  used.  Iron  that  is 
supplied  in  fruits  and  vegetables  can  be  used  by  the 
body  if  indigestion  does  not  prevent,  but  it  has  been 
proven  that  iron  furnished  as  a  drug  cannot  be  used 
by  the  body.  In  the  meantime  iron  is  being  con- 
tinually administered  as  a  drug  and  the  people  take 
it,  believing  that  they  are  benefited  instead  of  injured. 
The  people  have  been  taught  that  iron  in  the  form  of 
a  drug  could  be  appropriated  by  the  system,  but  the 
medical  world  knows  better  now,  and  having  recog- 
nized the  teaching  as  wrong  it  would  appear  that  a 
great  effort  would  be  put  forth  to  correct  it,  but  such 
corrections  are  left  to  so-called  "quacks." 


24  Food  Fundamentals 

Why  are  drugs  prescribed?  Because  people  de- 
mand them.  They  demand  them  because  of  habit, 
and  because  they  have  been  taught  that  drugs  cure 
disease  of  all  kinds  even  though  the  disease  has  been 
brought  on  by  incorrect  habits  of  living.  If  the 
medical  world  knows  better  now,  why  don't  they  set 
about  to  correct  their  error?  The  foundations  of  the 
medical  teachings  are  weak  and  will  not  bear  the 
strain  of  an  acknowledged  error.  Then  it  is  a  greater 
task  than  they  wish  to  assume,  also  a  thankless  one. 
And  it  would  hurt  business.  So  the  work  of  correct- 
ing erroneous  teachings  is  delegated  to  those  whom 
they  please  to  term  "Quacks,"  and  when  the  efficient 
"Quack"  is  well  on  the  way  of  accomplishing  the  great 
task,  the  medical  profession  plays  the  part  of  appro- 
priating the  teaching  as  the  essence  of  their  own.  In 
this  way  they  deceptively  maintain  the  unhampered 
confidence  of  the  people — an  attitude  which  is  pitiably 
sickening  to  those  who  know. 

The  forces  of  drugs  are  so  solidly  intrenched  and 
the  moral  indignation  of  those  who  would  throw  a 
gleam  of  light  on  the  drug  practice  has  been  so  care- 
fully gagged  and  suppressed  that  to  work  the  change 
that  is  now  in  progress  is  a  monument  to  great  men 
who  make  sacrifices  for  truth.  The  people  are  now 
experiencing  the  profound  relief  that  comes  from 
thinking  for  themselves,  and  the  drug  forces  show 
uneasiness  and  are  beginning  to  shiver. 


Food  Fundamentals  25 

It  is  difficult  for  people  to  give  up  drugs  entirely ; 
they  are  slow  to  believe  it  can  be  done  or  that  it  is 
wise  to  do  so.  There  are  circumstances  when  the 
careful  use  of  a  well  chosen  cathartic  may  be  wise; 
there  may  be  a  very  few  circumstances  when  the  use 
of  an  opiate  to  relieve  the  dying  may  be  a  wise  meas- 
ure, but  if  the  treatment  has  been  what  it  should  have 
been,  there  are  doubts  about  such  occasions  as  these 
arising.  There  is  more  disease  and  pain  caused  by 
wrong  treatment  than  can  be  expressed  by  the  most 
forceful  language. 

"The  superstition  of  medicine,  or  the  belief  that 
medicines  cure  disease,  is  a  relic  of  what  may  be 
called  a  dark  age,  an  age  extending  back  almost  a 
thousand  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ. 

The  superstition  of  medicine  has  filled  the  world 
with  fear,  and  to  a  large  extent  created  ills  it  has  pre- 
tended to  cure.  In  modern  times  this  superstition 
has  been  more  particularly  appropriated  and  perpet- 
uated by  the  manufacturers  of  patent  medicines, 
whose  aim  is  not  only  to  keep  the  people  in  gross  ig- 
norance, but  to  terrify  them  as  well.  They  (the  phy- 
sicians) know  full  well  that  the  idea  of  the  curative 
power  of  medicines  is  inborn,  and  knit  into  the  very 
fiber  and  being  of  humanity,  and  will  remain  so  as 
long  as  patent  medicine  firms  continue  to  broadcast 
and  brazenly  trumpet  forth  what  is  the  greatest  myth 
in  existence  —  the  curative  power  of  medicines. 

With  the  disappearance  of  this  myth,  mankind 
would  become  at  once  interested  in  learning  the  means 
—  the  only  means  —  whereby  health  and  longevity  of 
life  are  produced,  that  is  by  an  observance  of  the  laws 
of  health. 

The  thousands  of  medicines  which  we  now  use 
should  all,  with  a  few  exceptions,  be  cast  into  the  sea 


26  Food  Fundamentals 

of  oblivion.  Probably  the  number  of  medicines  which 
are  a  necessity  to  humanity  does  not  exceed  ten  in 
number.  Most  physicians,  after  an  experience  of  a 
number  of  years,  come  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
must  have  been  hypnotized,  in  their  younger  days, 
into  the  belief  that  medicines  cure  disease.  In  his 
early  practice  the  physician  is  always  on  the  lookout 
for  a  medicine  which  will  cure  disease  of  one  kind  or 
another.  As  his  experience  increases  he  comes  to  re- 
gard medicines  as  relieving  conditions,  not  as  curing 
diseases. 

Many  individuals  make  immense  fortunes  by 
propagating  the  falsehood  that  medicines  —  their 
medicines  —  cure  disease.  The  only  agent  that  cures 
disease  is  pure  blood.  Pure  blood  is  not  made  with 
medicines  of  any  kind,  but  only  by  pure  air,  pure  food, 
and  pure  water. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  that  medicines  act  just 
as  so  much  poison  when  taken  into  the  human  body. 
Even  physicians  have  been  deluded  into  believing  in 
the  curative  action  of  drugs.  Medicines  of  a  certain 
kind  may  remove  the  cause  which  produces  disease, 
and  in  doing  this  the  disease  is  said  to  be  cured.  Un- 
questionably there  are  medicines  which  are  a  boon 
to  humanity,  and  with  which  we  could  not  well  dis- 
pense, but  the  systematic  drugging  of  the  body  with 
the  so-called  blood  medicines,  in  order  to  build  up  the 
body,  is  a  weak  attempt  to  do  what  Nature  does  to 
perfection  by  means  of  pure  air,  food,  and  water. 
Medicines  are  not  tolerated  by  the  system. 

Barrels  of  pepsin  and  pancreatin  have  been  admin- 
istered to  individuals  suffering  from  dyspepsia.  They 
are  still  suffering.  As  for  dyspepsia,  it  may  be  re- 
marked, in  passing,  that  it  is  always  entirely  curable, 
and  without  drugs  of  any  kind.  We  are  still  laboring 
under  the  delusion,  perpetuated  in  one  way  or  another 
through  the  public  press,  that  medicines  cure.  The 
healing  power  is  to  be  found  in  the  blood,  and  not  in 
medicines. 


Food  Fundamentals  27 

If  man  would  only  live,  eat,  and  drink  as  he 
should,  there  would  be  absolutely  no  indication  for 
medicine."    (Dr.  Daniel  S.  Sager,  Allopath.) 

"There  is  no  excuse  for  the  use  of  drugs;  for 
cures  can't  be  made  by  them,  and  they  do  mask  symp- 
toms, making  it  difficult  to  tell  exactly  if  the  symp- 
toms present  are  those  of  disease  or  those  of  drugs; 
and  if  food  is  being  given,  the  symptoms  will  be  still 
further  modified. 

When  drugs  are  given,  rest  is  broken ;  for  if  they 
have  any  influence  at  all,  it  is  to  depress  and  retard 
recovery.  A  bare  exception  to  this  rule  may  be  when 
the  remedies  used  are  to  overcome  bowel  obstruction, 
and  then  a  heavy  head  and  hand  prescription  may 
do  more  harm  than  good  in  carrying  out  a  plan  for 
freeing  the  bowels  of  an  accumulation  that  is  causing 
disease.  For  example,  in  typhoid  fever,  if  the  bowels 
are  forced  to  move,  it  may  cause  hemorrhage;  in 
appendicitis,  an  attempt  to  move  the  bowels  with 
drugs  may  cause  death;  in  real  obstruction,  drugs 
given  to  move  the  bowels  may  cause  perforation  and 
death.  There  is  a  truth  that  should  be  known  to  med- 
ical men;  namely,  that  heart  tonics  and  stimulants 
wear  the  heart  out  —  that  patients  with  heart  disease 
will  live  much  longer,  and  stand  a  better  chance  of 
getting  well,  the  less  heart  medicine  they  take. 

Can  drugs  cure  a  bad  habit?  If  those  who  have 
used  up  all  their  nerve  energy  by  lust  and  love  take 
pneumonia,  will  serum  cure?  Will  drugs  cure  the 
stomach  derangements  that  are  brought  on  from  ex- 
hausted nerve  energy?  Can  drugs  cure  the  nagger 
or  the  nagged?  When  men  and  women  have  ex- 
hausted their  nerve  energy  and  are  suffering  melan- 
choly, can  they  be  cured  by  drugs?  If  a  woman  is 
suffering  from  headaches  brought  on  from  tea,  coffee, 
or  autotoxemia,  will  drugs  cure  her?  Suppose  a  rheu- 
matic subject  has  the  tippling  habit,  and  keeps  his 
nerve  energy  below  par  by  sexual  abuse  —  will  drugs 
cure  him? 


28  Food  Fundamentals 

What  can  drugs  do?  Relieve  pain,  of  course. 
Yes,  but  drugs  that  relieve  pain  check  elimination, 
and  all  the  disagreeable  symptoms  are  due  to  na- 
ture's efforts  to  throw  off  disease,  and  to  paralyze 
the  nerves  with  drugs  means  to  surrender  to  disease. 

Nothing  will  cure  that  does  not  look  to  the  cor- 
rection of  the  mental  and  physical  bad  habits.  Isn't 
it  reasonable  to  believe  that  bad  habits  must  be  cor- 
rected ?  Wouldn't  a  rational  remedy  be  anything  that 
will  correct  the  habits  of  life? 

What  do  drugs  do  for  the  average  consultant? 
Relieve  symptoms.  If  a  person  is  free  from  symp- 
toms for  a  given  time  afterwards,  isn't  he  cured? 
Let  us  reason  together:  Suppose  the  symptoms  pre- 
scribed for  be  those  of  a  periodic  headache,  isn't  it 
a  fact  that  the  nerve-storm  (headache)  will  spend 
its  force  and  be  gone  every  little  while  without  the 
aid  of  drugs?  If  drugs  do  anything,  they  merely  cut 
the  attack  short.  Well,  isn't  it  worth  while  to  get 
relief?  Yes,  if  the  relief  does  not  cost  too  much; 
but  if  the  drug  is  used  to  bring  relief  from  two  to 
five  years,  and  in  that  time  weakens  heart  action  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  patient  suddenly  dies  from 
heart  paralysis,  isn't  the  victim  paying  a  fearful  price 
for  a  remedy  that  only  relieves  —  cuts  the  attack 
short  and  in  no  wise  removes  the  cause?" 

(Dr.  J.  H.  TiLDEN,  Allopath.) 

Coffee,  tea  and  chocolate  can  be  grouped  with  a 
multitude  of  soda-fountain  drinks  and  other  drugs  to 
be  condemned.  These  are  drugs,  not  foods.  As  drugs 
they  have  been  used  for  many  generations  and  not  a 
few  have  grown  old  while  using  them.  But  this  is 
no  argument,  for  millions  who  have  used  them  have 
died  young  while  one  grew  old.  One  is  not  to  be 
preferred  to  the  other  for  they  all  introduce  a  poison 
into  the  body  which  is  harmful  to  the  nervous  system ; 


Food  Fundamentals  29 

they  cause  constipation;  they  irritate  and  produce 
changes  in  the  mucous  membranes  with  which  they 
come  in  contact;  they  do  their  part  toward  over- 
stimulation; they  impede  elimination  and  promote 
accumulation  of  poisons;  they  induce  overeating.  In 
all  these  ways  and  others  they  ruin  the  nervous  sys- 
tem.   They  are  especially  bad  for  children. 

I  wish  all  people  could  see  clearly  that  there  is  no 
such  a  thing  as  a  specific  disease ;  that  after  all  disease 
is  decay,  degeneration,  weakening  of  the  nervous 
system. 

I  wish  all  people  could  clearly  grasp  the  idea  that 
disease  is  in  no  way  inherited.  The  tendency  toward 
disease  may  be  inherited,  but  what  does  that  mean?  It 
means  that  the  nervous  system  of  the  parent  or 
parents  being  weakened,  of  necessity  they  must  trans- 
mit a  weak,  nervous  system  to  their  offspring.  A 
parent  whose  nervous  system  has  been  ruined  by  fre- 
quent attacks  of  gonorrhea  or  syphilis  does  not  trans- 
mit a  specific  disease  nor  a  tendency  to  a  specific  dis- 
ease. They  transmit  a  nervous  system  weakened  in  a 
similar  way  to  that  of  the  parent,  but  in  no  way 
afflicted  with  syphilis,  nor  with  any  tendency  toward 
affliction  with  it.  The  inherited  nervous  system  being 
weak  all  along  the  line  is  a  fit  nervous  system  to  suc- 
cumb easily  to  wrong  habits  of  living  and  to  all  un- 
favorable environment. 

This  same  thing  holds  good  with  a  mother 
who  has  debauched  herself  with  afternoon  tea  and 


80  Food  Fundamentals 

similar  habits.  She  may  transmit  a  weakened  ner- 
vous system  that  in  no  way  is  very  unlike  the  nervous 
system  that  is  inherited  from  the  syphilitic  parent. 
If  there  is  a  difference  it  is  usually  in  degree,  not  in 
quality.  And  if  the  tea-debauching  mother  is  as  much 
debauched  in  general  as  the  syphilitic  parent  the  trans- 
mitted nervous  system  will  share  a  fate  equally  as  bad 
in  each  case. 

The  illustration  equally  applies  to  parents  who 
debauch  or  weaken  their  nervous  systems  in  any  way. 
It  does  not  matter  whether  it  is  coffee,  tea,  tobacco, 
society,  or  what  not. 

Coffee  is  a  stimulant.  An  occasional  cup  will  not 
materially  hurt  anybody.  Occasionally  it  can  be  con- 
sistently taken.  The  same  is  true  with  tea  or  choco- 
late. It  is  not  the  occasional  performance  of  a  wrong 
habit  of  eating  that  kills,  but  it  is  the  habitual  per- 
formance of  it.  But  this  truth  does  not  lessen  the 
fact  that  when  it  is  used  much  it  is  debauching  just 
as  truly  as  other  more  formidable  bad  habits  are  de- 
bauching. It  does  not  lessen  the  fact  that  the  final 
effect  on  the  nervous  system  is  quite  the  same  —  de- 
generation from  poison  and  abuse.  Coffee  without 
sugar  is  better  than  with  it,  because  sugar  is  not  good 
for  the  system.  But  this  is  all  there  is  to  the  good 
effects  of  black  coffee. 

Many  bad  things  may  be  said  about  condiments. 
All  condiments  of  whatever  nature  or  dressing  in 
which   condiments   are   used   should   be   abandoned. 


I 


Food  Fundamentals  81 

They  are  builders  of  wrong  habits  of  living  and  are 
health  destroyers.  If  there  is  one  exception  it  is  the 
moderate  use  of  salt.  There  is  not  a  shadow  of  doubt 
about  the  fact  that  they  should  all  be  at  once  discon- 
tinued. Food  will  become  more  tasty  without  them 
as  the  palate  and  taste  buds  are  educated. 

"Nerves  of  special  sense  are  made  inefficient  as 
protectors  of  health  by  the  use  of  stimulants  —  to- 
bacco, alcohol,  and  drugs  —  salt,  pepper,  and  other 
condiments  common  to  sensualists.  The  crime  com- 
mitted by  the  use  of  stimulants  is  that  the  narcotic 
variety  deadens  sensations,  removes  the  power  of 
choice,  and  causes  a  retention  of  the  excretory  debris, 
while  the  piquant  food-dressings  whip  into  activity 
a  false  desire  for  food  and,  like  the  narcotic  stim- 
ulants, ruin  the  power  of  discrimination. 

When  the  nerves  of  special  sense  are  abused  too 
long,  they  become  morbid  and  their  cravings  are  ab- 
normal; they  can't  sense  delicate  flavors,  such  as  un- 
seasoned foods  have;  tobacco,  alcoholics,  salt,  sugar, 
mustard,  spices,  and  pepper  are  about  the  only  sen- 
sations craved;  normal  food  flavors  are  insipid  and 
eventually  despised.  When  this  time  comes,  the  body 
has  lost  its  defenses,  and  the  mind  has  deteriorated; 
it  cannot  discriminate  good  from  bad;  the  artistic 
mind  becomes  gross,  and  the  man  becomes  uninter- 
esting, and  is  left  behind  and  forgotten  by  former 
friends.  A  tremendous  price  to  pay  for  self-indul- 
gence!"    (TiLDEN.) 

Tobacco  is  a  drug  and  not  a  whit  less  abominable 
than  coffee,  tea  or  whisky.  When  the  saloons  are 
gone  there  is  another  evil  just  as  great  to  be  attacked 
—  the  cigarette  evil.  I  have  no  use  for  the  criticism 
that  condemns  tobacco  and  excuses  coffee.    I  have  no 


32  Food  Fundamentals 

sympathy  for  a  condemnation  of  liquor  and  an  excuse 
for  overeating.  We  are  all  "tarred  with  the  same 
stick."  Overeating  and  drinking  liquor  to  excess 
have  similar  effects  on  the  physical  body.  The  one  is 
not  much  worse  than  the  other.  Tobacco  is  a  bad 
thing,  ruining  the  physical  and  mental  body;  but  so 
does  too  much  bread,  or  pie,  or  strawberry  shortcake. 
I  am  not  sure  but  what  one  who  eats  too  much  stim- 
ulating food  is  not  more  dangerous  to  a  community 
than  one  who  drinks  to  excess  or  smokes  cigarettes. 
If  you  don't  follow  me  to  these  logical  conclusions  just 
set  about  studying  this  food  question  and  observe  the 
results  of  wrong  habits  of  eating. 


A  WELL  BALANCED  DIETARY. 

There  is  a  false  idea  prevalent  that  a  meal  should 
be  a  balanced  meal;  that  it  should  contain  all  the  ele- 
ments in  about  the  same  proportions  in  which  they 
are  found  in  the  body.  Nothing  can  be  more  absurd, 
and  yet  hundreds  of  people  never  question  the 
sensibleness  of  the  idea.  Domestic  science  teachers, 
writers  on  home  economics,  hospital  authorities,  and 
those  of  a  scientific  education  everywhere  accept  such 
an  idea  without  hinting  to  themselves  that  it  could  be 
absurd. 

The  chemical  balance  of  each  individual  body 
differs  every  hour.  In  the  morning  it  is  not  what  it 
is  in  the  evening.  One  day  it  is  not  what  it  is  the 
next.    When  one  is  ill  it  is  in  no  way  similar  to  when 


Food  Fundamentals  33 

he  is  well.  It  varies  with  the  occupation,  and  whether 
the  individual  is  out  or  in  doors.  It  varies  with  light 
or  heavy,  cool  or  warm  clothing.  It  varies  with  the 
chest  expansion,  the  amount  of  natural  sleep,  and  many 
other  things  pertaining  to  the  life  and  habits  of  each 
individual. 

Food  tables  are  of  value  because  of  the  general 
information  in  them.  In  general  terms  they  mean  a 
great  deal  and  should  be  studied  more,  especially  to 
get  information  about  foods  which  offer  to  the  body 
such  needed  elements  as  soda,  potash,  phosphorus, 
lime,  and  others  not  usually  recognized  as  important 
food  elements.  But  to  make  use  of  food  tables  for 
balancing  a  certain  meal  to  meet  the  chemical  require- 
ments of  the  body  is  a  mocking  sham  of  the  dizzy 
theorizer.  If  such  a  meal  be  gotten  up  it  would  not 
meet  the  requirements  of  one  individual  who  is  to 
partake  of  it,  and  most  certainly  would  not  come  very 
near  to  filling  the  needs  of  any  number  of  them. 

Knowing  the  chemical  needs  of  the  body  in  a 
general  way,  we  can  place  food  at  its  disposal  from 
which  it  will  supply  its  demands.  The  different  ele- 
ments of  the  body  should  be  offered  to  it  in  foods 
that  furnish  these  elements  in  a  form  easily  used  by 
the  body.  Those  foods  which  contain  the  least  number 
of  different  elements  are  the  most  suitable  for  this  pur- 
pose, because  they  are  the  most  stable,  decompose  and 
ferment  less  easily  than  complex  foods,  and  are  more 
easily  digested. 


34  Food  Fundamentals 

The  body  needs  and  makes  use  of  all  the  different 
kinds  of  foods,  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  supply  them 
all  at  one  meal.  It  is  not  even  necessary  to  supply  all 
of  these  elements  every  day  of  twenty-four  hours. 
So  there  is  no  necessity  of  what  is  recognized  as  a 
balanced  ration  —  a  balanced  meal. 


"No  table  can  show  anything  more  than  an  aver- 
age report  on  the  constituents  of  each  article  of  food, 
and  while  this  average  answers  the  purpose  very  well 
for  the  staple  foods,  the  fruits  and  vegetables  must 
vary  from  a  very  low  to  a  high  nutritive  value,  de- 
pending upon  the  soil,  the  fertilizer  used,  and  the  at- 
mospheric state,  all  of  which  must  vary.  To  assume 
that  it  is  necessary,  or  even  possible,  to  know  the 
quantitative  analysis  so  as  to  determine  the  value  of 
foods  taken  into  the  body  is  nothing  more  or  less 
than  bigotry  and  stilted  assumption,  and  certainly 
not  in  keeping  with  the  usual  ignorance  displayed  in 
feeding  the  sick.  If  it  were  necessary  to  know  the 
exact  composition,  an  analytical  chemist  would  have 
to  analyze  every  crop  of  every  garden ;  and  where  two 
or  three  crops  in  succession  are  raised  on  the  same 
soil,  a  chemical  examination  would  have  to  be  made 
of  each  crop ;  for  the  soil  would  not  be  the  same  with 
any  two  crops.  Chemists  would  also  have  to  establish 
a  laboratory  between  the  kitchen  and  the  dining  room, 
and  carefully  analyze  every  article  of  food,  to  see  how 
much  food  value  had  been  lost  in  the  cooking,  and 
how  much  the  chemistry  had  been  changed  by  the 
cooking;  also  to  discover  how  much  the  food,  served 
on  the  table,  had  been  changed  by  the  adding  of  the 
seasoning,  condiments,  and  mixing;  and,  neither  last 
nor  least,  determine  what  change  the  digestive  secre- 
tions bring  about.  This  would  necessitate  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  state  of  the  mind  and  body  at  the  time 
of  eating,  and  for  weeks  before."     (Tilden.) 


Food  Fundamentals  35 

Just  how  much  of  any  element  of  food  is  needed 
by  the  body  at  a  time  is  known  by  no  one  quite  as 
well  as  the  individual  who  is  taking  the  food,  pro- 
vided he  is  in  health.  General  statements  may  be 
made,  landmarks  pointed  out  as  guides  in  choosing 
the  amount,  and  people  may  be  taught  so  they  may 
know  when  they  have  eaten  enough,  but  it  becomes 
a  personal  matter  with  every  individual  to  determine 
the  amount  of  food  he  should  take.  It  will  never  be 
given  to  any  individual  to  know  for  others  how  much 
they  shall  eat,  and  the  sooner  this  is  known  to  the 
complaining  the  sooner  will  they  assume  the  responsi- 
bility which  is  of  necessity  theirs. 

If  more  of  any  element  than  the  body  needs  is 
given  it,  serious  results  follow.  When  excess  is  taken 
all  the  food  is  digested  in  an  inefficient  manner.  The 
work  may  be  done  without  distress  or  evident  dis- 
turbance, but  no  real  good  food  enters  the  blood  —  the 
tissues  are  fed  with  poisoned  food.  Whatever  is  in- 
gested more  than  is  needed  is  a  burden  which  must 
be  unloaded  at  a  great  and  unnecessary  expenditure 
of  nervous  energy.  Digestion  is  a  work  that  is  accom- 
plished by  the  nervous  system.  It  draws  very  heavily 
on  the  nervous  system  to  supply  the  force  to  perform 
the  details  of  digestion.  And  if  digestion  is  imperfect 
the  food  given  the  nervous  system  to  replenish  its 
waste  is  imperfect  food,  and  often  very  irritating  to 
the  nervous  system.      People  should  grasp  the  idea 


36  Food  Fundamentals 

that  food  may  irritate  the  nervous  system  to  the  ex- 
tent of  causing  an  inflammation  of  the  nerve  sheaths 
and  a  general  neuritis. 


OVEREATING. 

The  one  great  error  of  diet  is  overeating.  If  one 
does  not  overeat  it  is  not  necessary  for  him  to  pay 
very  much  attention  to  what  is  written  about  diet. 
If  one  does  not  overeat  the  matter  of  combinations 
does  not  play  nearly  so  important  a  part.  Why? 
Because  the  body  will  adjust  itself  to  many  of  our 
bad  habits,  and  to  all  of  them  just  as  perfectly  as  it  is 
possible.  Many  an  individual  reading  these  sentences 
will  immediately  excuse  themselves  from  the  necessity 
of  paying  any  attention  to  their  eating,  and  license 
themselves  to  all  kinds  of  indulgences.  It  is  in  line 
with  their  desires  to  convince  themselves  their  habits 
of  eating  are  not  at  fault.  Most  individuals  who  are 
feeling  bad  are  overeating;  the  exceptions  are  so  rare 
they  should  not  be  noted. 

It  is  not  unusual  for  members  of  a  family  to 
accompany  one  of  their  number  into  a  physician's 
office  and  give  assurance  that  the  complaining  one  is 
the  smallest  eater  of  the  family.  What  is  meant  by 
overeating?  With  whose  eating  am  I  to  compare  my 
own  in  order  to  determine  whether  I  am  overeating  or 
not?  Overeating  is  a  relative  matter  not  to  be  deter- 
mined by  comparison.     It  depends  on  many  things 


Food  Fundamentals  37 

and  is  wholly  individual.    Eating  beyond  the  digestive 
capacity  is  overeating. 

"We  are  all  guilty  of  it,  (overeating)  not  occa- 
sionally but  habitually,  and  almost  uniformly,  from 
the  cradle  to  the  grave.  It  is  the  bane  alike  of  our 
infancy  and  youth,  our  maturity  and  age.  It  is  in- 
finitely more  common  than  intemperance  in  drinking, 
and  the  aggregate  of  the  mischief  it  does  is  greater. 
Children  and  youth  are  regularly  taught,  hired, 
bribed,  or  tempted,  to  overeat  from  their  birth.  Our 
stomachs  are  the  scape-goats  which  must  bear  all  our 
physiological  delinquencies  and  save  us  the  pain  of 
blaming  ourselves.  If  they  feel  uneasy  after  a  heavy 
meal,  it  is  not  we  who  are  to  blame  for  having  eaten 
it.  No,  it  is  the  fish  which  lies  heavy  on  the  stomach, 
or  the  stomach  which  is  unfortunately  at  war  with 
soup  or  potatoes,  or  some  other  well-relished  article. 
We  never  eat  more  than  enough.  We  never  devour  lob- 
sters or  oysters  or  salmon  or  cheese,  or  anything 
which  experience  has  told  us  our  enfeebled  stomachs 
cannot  digest.  We  are  too  prudent  and  self-denying 
for  that.  And  yet,  somehow  or  another,  our  stomachs 
get  hold  of  all  these  things  in  spite  of  us,  and  we  must 
pay  the  same  penalty  as  if  we  had  eaten  them  deliber- 
ately and  with  malice  prepense."     (Dio  Lewis.) 

To  say  to  a  patient,  "Don't  overeat,"  is  on  a  par 
with  the  foolishness  of  saying,  "Don't  worry."  To 
avoid  overeating  some  fundamental  conditions  must 
be  studied  and  put  into  operation.  The  meals  must 
not  be  taken  where  there  is  noise  and  the  hustling  of 
waiters,  where  one  is  surrounded  by  the  clatter  of 
dishes  and  quick  movements.  It  is  too  difficult  to 
remain  composed  and  to  chew  the  food  deliberately 
under  such  circumstances.  Loud,  quick  and  restless 
music  is  a  cause  for  rapid  eating,  while  slow,  com- 


88  Food  Fundamentals 

posed  and  sweet  music  may  be  consistent  with  moder- 
ate eating.  Enough  time  must  be  allotted  for  this 
important  function,  for  hurried  eating  invariably 
leads  to  overeating.  The  rich,  starchy  foods  and  the 
rich  proteins  should  not  be  ingested  at  the  same  meal, 
if  for  no  other  reason  than  to  avoid  overeating.  Rich 
dressings,  sweetened  dressings,  gravies,  condiments, 
jellies,  fruit  preserves,  and  highly  seasoned  food  of  any 
kind  tempt  the  palate  to  pass  too  much  food.  Sip- 
ping a  liquid  while  eating  a  dry  food  is  a  poor  routine. 
Eating  when  tired,  worried,  excited,  angry,  or  too 
joyous  will  result  in  overeating.  Modem  cooking,  in 
which  all  the  resources  of  the  chef  or  housewife  are 
used  in  devising  a  dish  in  which  the  most  kinds  of 
food  may  be  combined,  leads  to  overeating.  Many 
other  daily  habits  must  be  observed  and  changed  if 
overeating  is  to  be  avoided.  Do  the  best  possible  to 
comply  with  these  conditions:  eat  at  home,  and  only 
when  there  is  a  keen  relish  for  plain  food,  cooked  and 
served  in  the  simplest  manner.  If  the  preparation  of 
the  food  is  simple,  if  it  is  daintily  arranged  and  served, 
if  the  table  linen  is  spotless,  if  the  conversation  is 
cheerful  and  uplifting,  the  chances  for  good  digestion 
are  very  much  enhanced. 

But  people  cannot  always  eat  at  home.  Then 
choose  a  home-like  place  to  eat.  If  the  people  demand 
quiet,  this  will  accompany  a  self-serve  restaurant  as 
frequently  as  elsewhere.  Demand  foods  that  are 
plainly  cooked  and  not  overseasoned.    And  in  passing 


Food  Fundamentals  39 

it  should  be  observed  that  when  not  eating  at  home 
it  is  very  often  necessary  to  eat  two  or  more  dishes 
or  orders  of  one  article  of  food,  in  order  to  obtain  a 
meal  of  suitable  combination.  Then  when  meat  is 
served,  refuse  the  potato  or  starchy  preparations  that 
go  with  it  at  the  same  price.  When  enough  people  do 
that,  meat  will  be  served  alone  at  a  less  price  than 
when  served  with  other  articles.  The  cooks  and 
managers  of  eating  places  should  often  be  told  how 
displeasing  it  is  to  have  so  much  grease  cooked  and 
served  with  the  non-starchy  vegetables.  Most  people 
prefer  these  vegetables  cooked  in  plain  water,  sea- 
soned with  salt  only,  and  then  add  cream  when  the 
vegetables  are  served  hot.  Lettuce  and  celery  and 
cabbage  should  be  offered  to  the  public  in  more  than 
a  small  dessert  quantity.  Fruit  should  be  offered  in 
small  amounts  or  in  larger  amounts  owing  to  what  is 
desired,  and  this  fruit  should  not  always  be  preserved, 
or  served  with  syrup  on  it.  It  is  difficult  to  obtain 
a  baked  apple  at  an  eating  house  without  it  has  been 
ruined  with  sweetening.  This  is  because  these  places 
think  people  eat  fruit  as  a  dessert  only.  When  they 
find  out  that  people  want  green  vegetables  cooked 
plainly  and  fruit  either  raw  or  cooked  plainly  to  make 
up  a  large  part  of  a  meal,  they  will  give  the  people 
what  they  want.  The  cure  of  overeating  must  come 
about  by  removing  the  cause,  whatever  it  may  be.  The 
will  power  should  be  cultivated  and  abundantly  used. 


40  Food  Fundamentals 

"Many  persons  suffer  from  constipation  because 
they  do  not  eat  enough.  They  are  in  constant  fear 
of  overloading  the  stomach  and  bowels,  and  the  con- 
sequence is  that  these  organs  lack  sufficient  work  to 
stimulate  them  to  proper  activity.  The  writer  has 
many  times  surprised  such  patients  by  the  prescrip- 
tion of  a  meal  two  or  three  times  as  large  as  was 
being  taken.  The  patient  has  usually  found  that  he 
suffers  no  harm  from  his  large  meal,  and  is  able  to 
digest  it  without  difficulty,  and  has  also  experienced 
a  notable  improvement  in  bowel  action. 

The  degree  of  this  movement  (peristaltic  wave 
of  stomach  and  intestine)  depends  upon  the  amount 
of  stimulation,  while  the  amount  of  stimulation  de- 
pends largely  upon  the  bulk  of  food  taken.  This  stim- 
ulating effect  is  produced  not  only  in  the  stomach, 
but  in  the  small  intestine. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  for  vigorous  stimulation 
of  the  intestine,  such  as  is  needed  to  bring  about  the 
evacuation  of  the  colon,  a  full  meal  must  be  more 
effective  than  a  meager  one.  People  who  "diet"  do 
themselves  great  injury  often  by  too  great  restriction 
of  the  bill  of  fare,  both  in  quantity  and  variety  of 
food. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  noted,  however, 
that  in  increasing  the  amount  of  the  food  intake,  the 
increase  should  usually  be  in  bulk  rather  than  in 
food  value.  The  added  bulk  should  consist  of  such 
foodstuffs  as  lettuce,  celery,  turnips,  tomatoes,  greens, 
fresh  fruits  and  other  articles  which  give  large  bulk 
with  little  nourishment."     (Kellogg.) 

This  kind  of  teaching  leads  to  overeating.  If  an 
individual  should  follow  the  general  tone  of  Colon 
Hygiene,  by  Kellogg,  overeating  will  surely  result. 
The  experience  he  had  with  patients  who  followed  his 
advice  in  overeating  can  be  duplicated  by  any  physi- 
cian.   But  it  is  not  wise.    The  patient  may  not  suffer 


Food  Fundamentals  41 

immediate  harm,  but  they  will  surely  suffer  harm  if 
they  continue  this  practice.  If  overeating  killed  as 
quickly  as  it  did  harm,  overeating  would  soon  be  dis- 
continued. That  patient  who  has  been  reducing  the 
diet  will  surely  feel  much  improved  if  they  take  larger 
meals,  provided  they  do  not  overcome  the  digestive 
apparatus  at  once  by  their  indiscretion.  But  the  im- 
proved condition  will  not  last  longer  than  the  nervous 
system  can  easily  bear  the  added  strain.  The  increased 
stimulation  brings  about  the  good  feeling. 

The  degree  of  the  peristaltic  wave  and  the 
strength  of  it  does  not  depend  upon  the  amount  of 
stimulation.  Within  certain  limits  the  more  stimula- 
tion the  greater  the  force  of  the  wave,  but  use  any 
amount  of  stimulation  you  choose  there  will  not  be 
much  force  to  the  movement  if  there  is  not  much  mus- 
cular strength  in  the  intestinal  walls.  There  may  be 
present  a  powerful  stimulation  and  no  peristaltic  wave 
at  all,  because  the  muscles  are  overcome  with  work  and 
are  stretched  until  they  lack  power. 


"In  constipation,  these  stimulating  reflexes  are 
often  weak,  and  must  be  reinforced  by  every  means 
possible.  Hence  the  diet  must  be  so  managed  as  to 
secure  the  maximum  amount  of  stimulating  influence 
upon  the  lower  bowel.  Eternal  vigilance  is  necessary; 
every  meal  must  be  taken  with  reference  to  the  bowel 
action.  A  single  omission  of  a  meal,  or  a  meal  of 
unsuitable  food,  may  be  sufficient  to  produce  an  undue 
accumulation  of  feces  in  the  colon  and  rectum,  and 
unless  this  is  immediately  corrected,  the  most  serious 
results  may  follow.     So  if  regularity  of  bowel  move- 


42  Food  Fundamentals 

ment  is  to  be  expected,  care  to  take  the  food  at  reg- 
ular intervals  becomes  a  matter  of  absolute  impor- 
tance. 

In  many  cases  of  chronic  constipation  the  colon, 
especially  the  cecum,  has  become  so  dilated  that  it  is 
seriously  crippled.  Its  thin,  atrophied  walls  are  un- 
able to  handle  large  masses  of  material.  In  such 
cases,  large  bulky  meals  are  likely  to  overweight  the 
cecum  and  to  form  an  impaction  which  may  remain 
for  days,  giving  rise  to  fermentation,  distention  of 
the  colon  with  gas,  colic  pains,  and  great  inconve- 
nience. Complaint  is  often  made  that  bulky  foods 
cause  much  flatulence  and  distress  and  seem  to  in- 
crease the  constipation.  The  remedy  is  not  to  be 
found  in  discarding  "coarse  vegetables"  or  other 
bulky  foods  but  in  taking  smaller  and  more  frequent 
meals.  By  this  means  the  amount  of  material  present 
in  any  portion  of  the  bowel  at  any  particular  time 
will  be  reduced,  the  bowel  will  never  be  over  dis- 
tended, and  will  have  an  opportunity  gradually  to 
recover  its  normal  tone. 

The  proper  plan  for  the  meals  in  such  a  case  is 
to  take  two  principal  meals  and  two  minor  meals.  The 
principal  meals  should  contain  the  chief  part  of  the 
nutriment;  the  minor  meals  should  make  small  de- 
mands upon  the  digestive  organs;  the  bulk  should  be 
about  the  same  for  each  of  the  four  meals.  No  fats 
should  be  taken  at  the  minor  meals  and  nothing  re- 
quiring more  than  two  hours  for  gastric  digestion. 
It  is  best  to  confine  the  minor  meals  to  fruit  and 
cellulose."    (Kellogg.) 

To  my  notion  of  things  these  are  the  directions 
that  bring  about  the  very  condition  of  weak  and  dis- 
tended intestinal  walls  which  is  pointed  out  as  a  handi- 
cap. Dr.  Kellogg  seems  to  conclude  that  constipation 
brings  about  the  distention  and  weakness  of  the  walls ; 
that  no  matter  how  much  bulk  you  put  into  the  intes- 


by 


Food  Fundamentals  43 

tines  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  failure  on  their 
part  because  of  the  amount  of  work  you  ask  of  them. 
This  is  incorrect;  constipation  is  often  brought  about 
by  overeating. 

Physicians  should  know  there  is  a  limitation  to 
e  amount  of  work  that  may  be  accomplished  by  the 
digestive  apparatus.  It  does  not  matter  what  the 
food  may  be,  whether  it  is  fruit  or  coarse  vegetables, 
or  both,  or  anything  else  under  the  sun,  —  if  you  over- 
work the  digestive  apparatus,  indigestion  and  con- 
stipation with  distention  by  feces  and  gas  will  follow, 
and  the  intestinal  walls  will  be  weakened.  A  fruit 
meal  may  result  in  indigestion  and  much  distention. 
And  this  may  occur  in  an  individual  quite  healthy,  if 
overeating  on  fruit  occurs.  Nothing  is  gained  by 
overeating,  and  it  does  not  matter  if  the  food  is  fruit, 
bran,  vegetables,  agar  agar,  or  what  not.  If  the  eat- 
ing is  kept  within  the  limits  of  the  capacity  to  digest, 
then  there  will  be  less  gas,  less  putrefaction,  less  con- 
stipation, and  that  good  result  which  stands  out  above 
all,  there  will  be  a  toning  up  of  the  muscles  in  the 
intestinal  walls  and  a  resulting  shrinking  in  size  of 
the  intestines.  This  latter  fact  seems  to  be  entirely 
overlooked  by  those  who  advocate  the  taking  of  large 
bulks  of  food.  If  large  and  impacted  bulks  of  food 
with  collections  of  gas  from  fermentation  are  the 
things  that  weaken  the  muscles,  pray  how  will  large 
bulks  of  food,  resulting  in  indigestion  and  constipa- 


44  Food  Fundamentals 

tion  and  gas  formation,  strengthen  these  muscle" walls  ? 
Give  rest  by  reducing  the  quantity  of  food  is  a  more 
logical  procedure. 

"The  products  of  fermentation  of  carbohydrates 
are  acids  which  are  harmless  in  the  quantities  in  which 
they  are  produced  in  the  body."     (Kellogg.) 

These  acids  are  very  irritating  to  the  nerves  and 
often  cause  inflammation  beneath  the  nerve  sheath. 
They  lower  the  vitality  of  the  entire  nervous  system; 
they  irritate  and  change  the  cells  of  the  mucous  mem- 
brane with  which  they  come  in  contact;  they  affect 
the  secretions  of  the  glands  of  the  stomach  and  intes- 
tinal walls.  A  certain  amount  of  fermentation  of 
carbohydrates  takes  place  in  the  act  of  digestion,  and 
this  may  be  where  the  confusion  arises.  But  it  should 
be  known  that  excessive  fermentation  causes  diges- 
tion to  cease,  or  a  more  correct  statement  would  be 
that  digestion  ceases  from  some  cause  and  then  ex- 
cessive fermentation  takes  place. 

"Many  persons  have  thought  themselves  bene- 
fited by  the  use  of  raw  grains,  such  as  wheat  and 
oatmeal.  While  it  would  be  impossible  for  a  person 
to  live  on  a  diet  consisting  exclusively  of  raw  grains, 
it  is  possible  that  some  benefit  may  be  derived  from 
the  use  of  such  food  to  a  moderate  extent,  through 
the  fact  that  uncooked  starch  digests  slowly.  Raw 
starch,  if  taken  in  more  than  minute  quantities,  as 
has  been  shown  by  experiment  by  the  writer,  finds 
its  way  in  considerable  quantities  into  the  colon. 
Here  digestion  slowly  proceeds,  producing  dextrin  and 
sugar,  which  furnish  to  the  acid-forming  bacteria 
just  what  they  require  for  their  growth  in  a  section 
of  the  intestines   where  the  help   of  these  friendly 


Food  Fundamentals  45 

organisms   is   most   needed.     Man's   natural   dietary 
comprises  food  containing  a  sufficient  amount  of  raw 

Itarch  to  prevent  extensive  putrefaction  in  the  colon." 
(Kellogg.) 
I  Raw  starch  taken  into  the  stomach  will  never 
reach  the  colon  in  that  state  if  the  individual  is  not 
very  seriously  overworking  his  digestive  apparatus. 
If  Nature  intended  that  the  raw  starch  should  reach 
the  colon  in  that  state  it  is  rather  strange  that  She 
provided  for  its  complete  digestion  much  farther  up 
in  the  digestive  tract,  even  starting  the  process  in  the 
mouth.  There  has  been  no  provision  made  for  diges- 
tion of  starch  in  the  colon,  as  one  would  imply  from 
what  Dr.  Kellogg  says.  If  it  reaches  the  colon  it  will 
ferment,  to  be  sure,  but  if  this  fermenting  process  is 
needed  in  the  colon  it  is  a  wrong  state  of  affairs.  In 
the  process  of  digestion  of  starch,  fermentation  takes 
place,  but  one  should  not  conclude  that  fermentation 
of  starch  is  digestion  of  starch,  for  that  is  not  all 
there  is  to  the  digestion  of  starch,  but  that  is  all 
that  occurs  in  the  colon.  These  acids  that  are  sup- 
plied the  colon  by  the  raw  starch  would  not  be  needed 
if  overeating,  followed  by  undue  fermentation  and 
putrefaction,  had  not  violently  impaired  the  mucous 
membrane  of  the  colon  so  it  cannot  work  properly. 
I  have  found  that  the  use  of  fruit  and  clabber  or 
fresh,  good  buttermilk  is  one  of  the  best  special  diets 
for  many  people.  It  improves  the  condition  of  the 
colon,  or  rather,  the  colon  is  permitted  the  chance  to 
improve  under  a  diet  of  this  kind.     It  permits  the 


46  Food  Fundamentals 

more  normal  secretions  of  the  mucous  membrane  of 
the  colon  to  do  away  with  much  of  the  bad  results  of 
putrefaction  and  undue  fermentation.  I  have  also 
found  that  a  judicious  use  of  bran  with  this  special 
diet  is  a  good  thing.  It  provides  some  bulk  and  un- 
doubtedly acts  so  as  to  promote  a  faster  movement  of 
the  waste  materials  in  the  small  intestine.  But  the 
good  results  come  about  by  giving  the  overworked 
intestines  and  stomach  a  rest,  and  doing  it  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  prevent  accumulation  and  absorption 
of  waste,  rather  than  because  certain  bacteria  in 
the  intestines  or  colon  make  a  hasty  disappearance. 
They  leave  because  the  putrefaction  and  undue  fer- 
mentation ceases,  and  not  because  of  the  substances 
in  the  buttermilk  and  fruit.  Overeat  of  buttermilk 
and  fruit  and  trouble  will  still  remain.  It  will  be 
different,  of  course.  These  same  bacteria  will  not 
be  present,  but  others  will.  Why  others  ?  Why  not  the 
same  ones  as  when  putrefaction  is  present?  Because 
the  bacteria  that  are  useful  when  putrefaction  is 
taking  place  in  the  colon  are  not  as  useful  when  the 
products  of  fermentation  of  fruit  and  buttermilk  are 
in  the  colon.  Dr.  Kellogg  makes  a  great  deal  out  of 
the  millions  of  germs  in  the  colon,  and  the  virulency 
of  the  poison  of  those  attending  putrefaction  of  meat. 
But  let  me  emphasize  that  those  millions  will  not 
appear  if  overeating  has  not  taken  place.  And  what 
does  appear  will  not  be  poison  if  the  decomposition  of 
meat  does  not  make  them  poison.    Don't  try  to  get  rid 


Food  Fundamentals  47 

of  the  germs.  Get  rid  of  the  thing  that  demands  the 
presence  of  the  germs.  The  kind  of  germs  and  the 
quantity  of  them  is  determined  by  the  needs  of  the 
situation.  

APPETITE. 

When  an  individual  loses  his  appetite  there  is 
much  solicitude  on  the  part  of  himself,  his  friends  and 
his  physician.  Everything  else  is  put  aside  and  a  gen- 
eral welcome  is  given  to  any  counsel,  no  matter  what 
its  source,  that  will  point  a  trail  by  which  something 
may  be  learned  of  the  whereabouts  of  the  appetite. 

That  individual,  or  that  physician,  is  not  wise 
who  will  not  listen  to  the  wisest  of  physicians  — 
Nature.  When  Nature  points  the  direction,  man's 
knowledge,  experience  and  wisdom  should  be  relegated 
to  the  background.  But  it  is  difficult  for  people  to 
believe  that  Nature  would  say,  "Don't  eat."  This  is 
because  of  wrong  teaching  about  the  necessity  of  food, 
about  the  use  of  food,  and  about  the  cause  of  disease. 

That  individual  who  does  not  want  food  is  in  no 
condition  to  receive  food.  Many  a  worried  individual 
would  not  become  sicker,  if  he  listened  to  Nature 
saying  "No  food."  Many  an  insane  individual  would 
become  better  if  food  were  properly  administered. 
Many  a  fever  would  disappear  if  it  were  not  fed.  If 
there  is  no  appetite,  take  no  measure  to  force  one. 
There  is  something  else  that  should  be  righted.  Go 
back  farther  for  the  cause.  And  until  the  cause  is 
found  and  removed,  it  is  quite  safe  to  let  food  alone. 


48  Food  Fundamentals 

"Appetite  is  discrimination;  it  must  have  stimu- 
lation; it  is  disease.  Appetite  must  have  just  the 
right  amount  of  condiments  on  the  food,  or  the  food 
cannot  be  eaten.  It  is  an  artificial  desire  for  food, 
and  is  the  same,  except  in  less  degree  as  the  inebriate's 
desire  for  alcohol,  and  the  fiend's  desire  for  opium, 
morphine,  cocaine,  and  other  drugs."     (Tilden.) 

"A  voracious  appetite  is  a  sign  of  disease,  or  of 
a  strong  tendency  to  disease,  and  not  a  sign  of  health, 
as  is  generally  supposed.  Ill  health  as  infallibly  follows 
the  indulgence  of  such  an  appetite  as  any  other  effect 
its  legitimate  cause."    (Dio  Lewis.) 

Kellogg  thinks  loss  of  appetite  will  cause  consti- 
pation, and  that  constipation  causes  loss  of  appetite. 
I  think  he  confuses  the  terms  appetite  and  keen  relish. 
There  is  a  vast  difference  between  a  keen  relish  for 
food  and  the  diseased  condition  of  a  demanding  or 
driving  appetite.  If  food,  plain  food,  cannot  be  taken 
without  a  keen  relish,  it  should  not  be  taken  at  all. 
If  it  is  necessary  to  tease  and  coax  the  palate  with 
condiments  and  sweet  dressings  and  excessive  mixing, 
then  there  is  present  a  diseased  appetite.  Natural 
appetite  and  keen  relish  are  synonomous  terms.  But 
the  term  appetite  as  used  by  physicians  and  laymen 
means  disease.  If  plain  food  is  demanded,  it  is  a 
diseased  condition,  not  a  natural  appetite.  A  loose  use 
of  such  terms  leads  to  much  misunderstanding. 

Out  of  the  noble  impulses  of  the  human  soul  there 
arises  a  desire  to  show  sympathy,  to  be  of  comfort  and 
use  to  those  who  are  ill  or  unfortunate.  This  com- 
mendable virtue  leads  members  of  a  family,  relatives. 


Food  Fundamentals  49 

and  neighbors  to  hasten  to  give  the  sick  some  favorite 
dish  of  food.  Every  artifice  of  a  good  cook  will  be 
put  to  the  test  to  induce  the  sick  to  take  food.  These 
attentive  people  can  do  no  greater  unkindness  to  the 
sick  than  induce  them  to  eat.  That  sick  child  is  un- 
fortunate who  has  a  parent  that  becomes  unduly  con- 
cerned because  it  does  not  have  any  appetite,  who  at 
all  times  of  day  and  night  uses  persuasion  to  get  the 
child  to  eat.  That  friend  who  tempts  and  tries 
friendship  by  insisting  that  the  sick  eat  of  the  dish  so 
thoughtfully  prepared,  becomes  a  hindrance  unusually 
difficult  to  remove.  Not  that  the  parent  or  friend 
have  in  any  v/ay  lost  their  sympathy  or  tenderness, 
but  that  the  best  of  intentions  from  the  noblest  of 
hearts,   if  accompanied  by  ignorance,   often  go   far 

astray.  

NATURE  OF  DISEASE. 
If  disease  is  not  a  thing  caused  by  germs,  if  it  is 
not  a  thing  to  be  combated  by  drugs,  if  it  is  not  a 
thing  at  all,  what  is  its  nature?  Disease  is  perverted 
health.  It  is  not  a  thing  which  attacks.  It  is  built. 
It  is  grown.  The  seed  is  sown,  soil  cultivated,  and 
the  product  is  the  general  condition  of  ill-health. 
This  is  true  of  tumors,  eczema,  appendicitis,  and  the 
rest  of  them.  "People  seem  to  think  that  disease  is 
a  sort  of  rat  running  about  within  the  body,  and  that 
we  must  send  in  a  black-and-tan  to  kill  it.  You  will 
hear  them  say :  'My  trouble  was  in  my  stomach ;  the 
doctor  gave  me  some  stuff  and  drove  it  into  my  kidneys. 


50  Food  Fundamentals 

Then  he  gave  me  another  sort  and  drove  it  into  my 
head.  Now  he  is  going  to  attack  it  there.'"  (Dio 
Lewis) . 

Excess  and  overindulgence  are  the  great  factors 
in  the  building  of  diseased  conditions.  Overeating, 
overworking,  worry,  fear,  jealousy,  anger,  pessimistic 
ideas,  hatred,  fretfulness,  selfishness,  disappointment, 
too  much  warm  clothing,  too  much  sitting  around,  too 
much  pleasure,  too  much  society,  too  much  responsi- 
bility, mental  and  physical  sex  abuse,  too  much  tea, 
cocoa,  coffee,  tobacco,  and  other  drugs,  etc.  Not  a 
few  of  these  or  their  allied  conditions  are  brought 
about  by  privation  and  destitution.  All  these  and 
many  more  things  have  an  important  place  as  causa- 
tive factors  in  disease  but  they  are  too  often  ignored 
as  such.  They  are  of  such  vast  importance  that  the 
existence  of  one  or  more  of  them  often  will  defeat 
every  other  effort  to  cure ;  and  the  removal  of  the  one 
or  ones  existing  in  addition  to  the  proper  treatment 
results  in  immediate  relief  and  ultimate  cure.  These 
devastating  habits  and  human  frailties  do  not  look 
like  faults  to  some  people  or  physicians,  but  are 
accepted  as  a  part  of  the  inevitable  and  mysterious 
game  of  life.  But  it  is  not  the  truth  and  only  the 
blunted  conscience  will  accept  it  as  such. 

Accumulative  Poisoning. 
Poisoning  is  the  proper  name  to  be  applied  to 
most  all  diseases.     Ptomain  poisoning  would  also  be 


Food  Fundamentals  51 

a  good  term.  Ptomain  poisoning'  occurs  in  the  body 
more  often  than  in  tin  cans.  Autointoxication  is  a 
common  term,  and  if  it  is  properly  explained  is  a  very 
good  one.  But  it  should  be  understood  that  the  self- 
poisoning  is  accomplished  as  a  result  of  body  abuse 
rather  than  as  a  result  of  poison  secreted  by  the  body 
cells.  There  is  not  a  great  deal  of  difference  between 
pneumonia  and  typhoid  fever;  between  measles  and 
eczema;  between  constipation  and  diarrhea;  between 
a  general  neuritis  and  epilepsy;  between  puerperal 
fever  and  appendicitis;  between  rheumatism  and 
syphilis,  etc.  Not  as  much  difference  as  you  would 
think.  Not  as  much  difference  as  the  names  imply. 
Are  all  these  the  result  of  the  accumulation  of  poison 
in  the  system  ?  Yes,  but  this  accumulation  is  brought 
about  in  different  ways  and  different  tissues  are  in- 
volved. Puerperal  fever  is  the  result  of  the  absorp- 
tion of  poisons  from  material  that  should  have  drained 
away  instead  of  putrefying.  So  is  syphilis  in  its 
early  stages,  but  later  potassium  iodid  and  mercury 
change  it.  Both  these  diseases  are  septic  poisoning. 
Septic  poisoning  is  the  result  of  absorption  of  putrefy- 
ing material.  Ptomains  are  the  result  of  putrefaction. 
So  there  you  are.  Ptomain  or  septic  poisoning  would 
be  a  good  name  for  any  of  these  diseases.  And  when 
seen  in  this  light  the  treatment  will  be  more  effective. 
Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  syphilitic  being  treated  with 
mercury  and  potassium  iodid?  Then  was  he  given  in 
addition  all  the  drugs  in  the  pharmacopeia?     Did  he 


52  Food  Fundamentals 

lose  the  symptoms  of  what  is  called  syphilis?  When 
he  went  to  a  physician  many  years  later,  was  he  not 
treated  for  syphilis?  If  he  had  been  cured  why  did 
the  physicians  continually  keep  asking  him  about 
syphilis  and  treating  him  for  the  disease?  If  he  was 
not  cured  was  it  because  the  specific  cure  was  not 
administered?  And  do  these  facts  apply  to  just  one, 
or  to  millions?  The  truth  is  that  syphilis  as  it  is 
known  in  medical  literature  is  a  drug  disease.  If  the 
drugs  were  omitted  and  a  sane  treatment  adminis- 
tered nearly  every  case  could  be  completely  cured.  No 
such  disease  as  is  described  in  medical  literature  would 
occur. 

If  all  such  diseases  are  so  similar,  why  so  many 
different  names?  Because  disease  is  considered  an 
entity,  a  thing;  something  that  can  attack,  or  some- 
thing that  can  be  driven  out.  If  there  is  a  pain  in  the 
temple  it  is  called  neuralgia,  and  physicians  or  patient 
does  not  see  it  as  a  part  of  a  general,  bad  condition  of 
the  entire  body.  If  the  patient  does  not  sleep,  then  it 
is  a  nervous  disease,  and  neither  patient  nor  physician 
can  see  that  it  is  a  disturbance  of  the  sympathetic 
nervous  system,  —  a  general  condition. 


"I  dare  not  tell  you  how  important  I  think  it  is 
that  you  should  fully  take  in  this  idea  —  that  the 
general  is  everything,  the  local  nothing.  Never  till 
you  comprehend  this  can  you  even  make  a  fair  start 
in  these  health  investigations."     (Dio  Lewis.) 

1/  r»  tj  Ci  n  I  r  cr    .r    /zi/  i  >  m  c 


Food  Fundamentals  53 

So  diseases  are  named  from  the  symptom,  and 
the  symptom  is  considered  the  disease,  and  the  symp- 
tom is  treated.  The  symptom  is  a  timely  and  friendly 
warning,  and  it  is  wrong  to  try  to  stop  Nature's 
warning.  The  effort  should  be  to  stop  the  thing  that 
caused  the  pain,  the  fever,  the  discharge,  etc.  Going 
back  to  the  cause  of  these  disease  manifestations  they 
will  be  found  to  be  a  local  signal  pointing  to  a  general 
condition.  And  these  general  conditions  are  accumu- 
lations of  poisons  or  chronic  autotoxemia. 

Sore  throat,  enlarged  tonsils,  adenoids,  sick  head- 
ache, neuralgia  of  the  face,  pain  in  the  eyes,  pain  or 
aching  of  the  cheek,  enlarged  turbinates,  nasal  polypi, 
decaying  teeth,  pyorrhea,  earache,  etc.,  all  may  be 
caused  by  a  congestion  of  the  head  resulting  from 
stomach  and  digestive  disturbances.  There  may  be 
other  factors  such  as  osteopathic  lesions  of  the  neck, 
jaw,  etc.,  but  these  factors  are  seldom  the  entire  cause. 

The  tenth  or  pneumogastric  nerve  is  very  much 
irritated  by  fermentation  and  decomposition  of  food 
in  the  stomach,  and  through  its  connections  with  other 
nerves  of  the  neck  and  face  there  is  a  constriction  of 
the  structures  at  the  base  of  the  head  blocking  the 
blood  flow  to  the  heart  and  producing  congestion  of 
all  the  structures,  both  deep  and  superficial.  And 
besides  these  direct  results  from  irritation  of  the  ner- 
vous system,  there  are  irritating  gases  gradually 
oozing  up  the  esophagus  to  irritate  the  mucous  mem- 
brane of  the  throat  and  adjacent  tissues.     This  leads 


54  Food  Fundamentals 

to  a  congestion  of  blood  in  the  membrane  and  glands 
and  in  part  accounts  for  the  enlarged  tonsils  and 
adenoids. 


"Chronic  autotoxemia  is  a  passive  state,  grad- 
ually brought  on  by  the  common  abuses,  such  as  over- 
taxing in  work  and  play,  overeating,  or  eating  im- 
proper foods,  incompatible  combinations,  and  either 
too  much  starch  or  too  much  meat,  and  often  too  much 
of  both;  all  present  a  gradual  backing  up  in  the  sys- 
tem of  waste  products.  If  likened  to  a  house,  it  can 
be  described  as  a  gradual  accumulation  of  dirt,  where 
the  housewife  removes  just  what  she  is  compelled  to, 
but  where  the  dirt  can't  be  seen  it  is  allowed  to  gather 
until  there  must  be  a  general  cleaning  out,  or  one 
must  quit  the  place. 

With  the  human  body  in  the  process  of  develop- 
ing this  general  state  of  poisoning  the  bowels  are 
always  full,  notwithstanding  there  may  be  an  evac- 
uation daily;  the  tongue  and  mucous  membranes  are 
thick  and  pale,  and  in  extreme  cases  there  is  a  dirty 
brown  or  yellow  coating  and  a  bad  breath;  the  gums 
are  inclined  to  be  red  and  ulcerated  near  the  teeth; 
at  middle  life,  and  often  before,  the  teeth  will  loosen 
and  fall  out  —  alveolar  pyorrhea;  the  tonsils  and 
throat  tissues  are  often  thick  and  slimy;  there  is  al- 
ways catarrh  of  the  nose,  with  dry  scales  forming; 
the  hearing  and  seeing  are  not  acute;  the  hair  is  full 
of  dandruff  and  in  time  will  fall  out;  the  tissues  of 
the  body  are  often  flabby,  and  there  is  always  over- 
weight, or  underweight;  too  much  abdomen,  either 
from  fat  or  gas ;  a  morbid  appetite  for  food  and  drink, 
and  a  desire  to  satisfy  the  sensual  nature;  piles  are 
frequent  in  many  subjects  all  the  time;  an  inclination 
to  be  drowsy  if  not  entertained;  good  natured  if  fat, 
or  nervous  and  cranky  if  lean;  given  to  headaches; 
always  tired;  secretions  and  excretions  malodorous. 


Food  Fundamentals  55 

When  a  man  has  eaten  too  much  his  teeth  and 
lips  will  begin  to  show  a  slight  incrustation,  with  the 
merest  taint  to  his  breath,  and  bad  taste  in  his  mouth. 
When  wrong  eating  is  continued  the  lips,  teeth,  and 
tongue  become  more  and  more  incrustated,  the  breath 
becomes  more  and  more  malodorous,  and  various  dis- 
comforts of  the  stomach  develop.  At  first  there  will 
be  a  slight  feeling  of  emptiness,  which  passes  off 
quickly.  This  symptom  gradually  becomes  more  and 
more  severe,  until  it  amounts  to  suffering.  The  pa- 
tient soon  learns  to  relieve  the  irritation  by  eating  a 
little  food  of  any  kind.  This  condition  of  the  stomach 
will  cause  some  people  to  eat  their  regular  meals  a 
little  earlier ;  others  will  eat  fruit,  candy,  or  some  sort 
of  a  lunch  between  meals.  The  more  relief  bought  in 
this  way,  the  more  suffering;  for  such  habits  add  to 
the  stomach  derangement;  and  the  more  the  stomach 
is  deranged,  the  more  relief  is  sought  in  eating,  drink- 
ing and  the  use  of  stimulants,  until  there  is  a  chronic 
gastritis,  ulceration,  or  cancer;  or  perhaps  the  irrita- 
tion may  lead  off  into  a  fully  developed  neurasthenia ; 
or,  because  of  individual  peculiarities,  or  various  in- 
herited weaknesses,  other  forms  of  disease,  acute  or 
chronic,  may  develop,  and  ruin,  if  not  destroy,  life." 

(TiLDEN.) 

This  is  a  pretty  clear  statement  of  how  a  large 
amount  of  the  sickness  develops.  Yet  there  are  not 
a  few  cases  which  will  not  follow  along  these  lines. 
This  view  gives  a  suitable  conception  as  to  why  there 
will  be  different  diseases  built  in  different  individuals 
by  similar  wrong  habits  of  living. 

Deceptive  Nature  of  Certain  Disturbances. 
There   is   a   mass  of   ignorance   about   diseased 
conditions    of   the    stomach    and    intestines.      These 
organs  can  be  violently  disturbed  without  giving  the 


56  Food  Fundamentals 

patient  distress.  One  can  have  a  bad  catarrhal  con- 
dition of  the  stomach  and  intestines  and  continually 
believe  there  is  nothing  wrong  with  them.  Ulcerated 
conditions  of  these  organs  may  be  present  and  the 
patient  not  complain  in  the  least.  A  badly  constipated 
condition  may  be  building  a  violent  disease  and  no 
pain  be  connected  with  it  at  all.  Carrington  says: 
"I  have  long  contended  that  even  very  grave  states 
and  diseased  conditions  might  exist  without  giving 
the  least  hint  of  their  presence  by  any  external  notice- 
able sign."  Carrington  quotes  the  following  from 
Dr.  James  Gulley:  "The  most  serious  ulceration  of 
the  stomach  and  bowels  —  nay,  cancerous  ulceration  of 
those  organs  —  may  go  on  without  the  smallest  amount 
of  animal  pain."  Dio  Lewis  quotes  the  following  from 
Prof.  Hitchcock: 

"But  men  do  not  perceive  the  bad  effects  of  over- 
feeding, because  in  general  they  are  ignorant  of  their 
character,  and  confine  their  attention  to  the  more  im- 
mediate eifects  instead  of  looking  at  those  which  are 
remote.  They  generally  suppose  that,  if  the  stomach 
or  any  internal  organ  be  oppressed  or  disordered,  pain 
will  be  produced  in  the  organ  itself;  whereas,  the  un- 
easiness and  pain  are  most  commonly  in  some  other 
part,  not  infrequently  a  remote  part,  of  the  body. 
And,  oftentimes,  food  which  ultimately  does  the  man 
a  great  deal  of  injury  gives  to  the  stomach  a  transient 
relief,  just  as  piling  a  large  quantity  of  wood  upon  a 
fire  seems  for  a  time  almost  to  extinguish  it." 

And  this  seems  to  be  an  unfortunate  circum- 
stance, that  pain  does  not  accompany  these  intestinal 
disturbances.      This   fact,    alone,    explains  thousands 


Food  Fundamentals  57 

of  puzzling  symptoms.  It  explains  why  a  child  or 
an  adult  will  be  in  seeming  health  and  suddenly 
be  the  victim  of  a  fatal  disease.  The  whole  scien- 
tific world  is  grappling  with  the  puzzle  to  find 
the  germ  and  where  it  came  from,  and  overlooking 
things  more  important.  Parents  think  that  because 
the  infant  or  child  is  fat  and  puffy  it  is  in  perfect 
health,  but  they  refuse  to  think  its  sleeplessness,  its 
nervousness,  its  peevishness,  its  irritability  could  be 
caused  by  overeating,  or  wrong  eating.  So  people 
must  come  to  know  that  wrong  eating  and  living  do 
not  always  strike  a  blow  in  the  face  on  the  spur  of 
the  moment  to  set  the  violator  right,  but  for  every 
cause  there  is  an  effect  —  a  corresponding  effect. 

It  is  most  difficult  to  teach  people  who  have  no 
pain  or  distress  that  their  digestion  may  be  at  fault. 
I  am  not  surprised  that  doctors  shrink  from  the  thank- 
less task  —  those  who  know.  They  often  lose  a  patient 
by  even  intimating  their  trouble  is  in  the  bowels  or 
stomach  or  due  to  some  habit  of  eating,  a  habit  similar 
to  that  practiced  by  the  multitudes,  for  how  can  a  thing 
that  everybody  does  be  wrong? 

These  diseases  do  not  come  on  without  any  warn- 
ing, but  we  have  not  yet  learned  that  any  indisposi- 
tion or  discomfort  is  a  very,  very  loud  and  important 
warning.  We  have  not  come  to  learn  that  anything 
whatsoever  said  to  us  by  Nature  is  highly  important. 
We  refuse  to  listen  to  Nature,  and  pay  somebody  who 
does  not  understand  Her  to  blindly  guide  us.     Indi- 


58  Food  Fundamentals 

gestion  resulting  in  a  slightly  soured  condition  of  the 
food  mass  or  a  little  decomposition  of  it  will  result 
in  the  absorption  of  much  poisonous  matter.  This  is 
a  result  of  the  presence  of  more  food  than  the  diges- 
tive juices  can  properly  reduce.  Such  digestive  dis- 
turbances build  tremendously  serious  diseases.  They 
are  as  sly,  deceptive,  insidious,  illusive,  and  at  the 
same  time  deadly,  as  a  copper-head  snake.  Pain  is 
absent  in  these  cases  because  the  sympathetic  nervous 
system  is  involved. 

Each  and  every  cause  is  followed  by  a  suitable 
and  well  measured  effect,  and  with  loud  emphasis 
let  me  assert  there  is  no  exception  to  the  rule.  Abuse 
of  the  digestive  apparatus  does  not  kill  immediately, 
and  to  no  other  fact  is  the  continuance  of  the  out- 
rageous maltreatment  of  the  stomach  explainable. 
Misuse  of  the  digestive  system  even  for  a  short  time 
brings  a  protest,  but  physicians  and  laymen  are  not 
trained  to  interpret  the  milder  warnings  of  Nature. 
Nothing  but  violent  sickness  or  distress  is  regarded, 
and  this  is  especially  applicable  if  there  is  suspicion 
that  food  is  the  cause.  Food  is  ruled  out  by  reasoning 
that  it  cannot  be  harmful  to  anybody.  The  little  pain 
in  or  about  the  eye,  the  soreness  and  distress  in  the 
back  of  the  neck  at  the  base  of  the  brain,  the  pain  in 
the  side  or  in  the  limbs,  the  flutter  of  the  heart,  the 
slightest  tendency  to  nausea,  the  bad  odor  of  the 
breath,  the  metallic  taste,  the  sliminess  of  the  mouth 
secretions,  the  soreness  of  the  mouth,  throat,  tonsils, 


Food  Fundamentals  59 

or  nose,  the  constipation,  the  foul  odor  of  the  stools, 
the  inactive  liver,  the  cold  hands  and  feet,  the  red 
nose,  the  lack  of  appetite,  the  tendency  to  catch  cold, 
the  desire  for  large  quantities  of  food,  the  desire  to 
eat  before  mealtime,  and  countless  other  fitting  and 
adequate  warnings  are  dismissed  with  a  waive  of  the 
hand,  and  "I  must  have  caught  a  little  cold,"  or  a 
dose  of  medicine  and  "patient  waiting"  until  some- 
thing more  serious  results.  It  is  reasoned  that  every- 
body eats  this  way,  it  can't  be  harmful.  But  this  is 
the  explanation  why  everybody  is  ill,  and  why  there 
are  so  many  physicians,  pretenders,  and  quacks  who 
are  making  a  living  "curing"  the  sick.  It  is  true  that 
any  ideas  whatsoever  about  food  will  not  adequately 
explain  all  the  illness,  for  sickness  is  not  brought 
about  by  a  single  cause,  but  by  many  causes.  Expe- 
rience and  observation  leads  me  to  believe  that  the 
food  question  in  all  its  phases  is  so  large  a  factor  in 
the  causation  of  disease  as  to  make  many  other  so- 
called  factors  dwindle  to  pitiable  insignificance.  Each 
and  every  discomfort  of  the  body  and  inclination  from 
a  feeling  of  well-being  should  be  interpreted  and 
arrested  in  its  incipiency,  rather  than  let  it  mature. 

There  is  no  known  disease  but  what  can  be 
brought  on  by  excesses  coupled  with  climatic  condi- 
tions. Excesses  of  all  kinds  are  a  factor  in  their 
building.  There  is  no  known  disease  that  will  not 
be  less  severe  if  food  is  kept  from  the  body  except 
in  the  quantity  that  can  be  properly  digested  and  as- 


60  Food  Fundamentals 

similated.  There  are  many  of  the  common  complaints 
which  will  entirely  disappear  if  the  quantity  of  food 
ingested  is  limited  to  the  quantity  actually  needed. 

The  future  study  of  disease  should  center  about 
the  study  of  effects  of  bad  habits  of  living.  It  should 
be  a  study  of  the  effects  of  accumulation  of  poisons 
and  of  the  influences  that  lead  to  such  accumulation. 

It  is  time  that  people  should  know  some  of  the 
cardinal  signs  of  disease.  They  are  too  willing  to 
believe  that  any  discomfort  they  may  have  cannot  be 
traced  to  the  taking  of  food.  It  is  repulsive  for  many 
people  to  hear  a  physician  say  they  are  eating  too 
much.  People  want  to  be  cured  while  they  continue 
to  do  the  thing  that  has  caused  the  trouble;  if  you 
will  work  to  that  end,  you  are  their  doctor,  and  if 
not,  they  will  choose  another. 

CONSTIPATION. 

Whenever  the  movement  of  the  food  mass  or  waste 
material  in  the  intestines  is  abnormally  slow  there  is 
a  constipated  condition  present.  The  rate  of  movement 
normal  to  one  individual  is  abnormal  to  another,  so 
constipation  is  a  relative  term.  One  whose  bowels 
move  daily  may  be  quite  badly  constipated.  Often  the 
material  passed  one  day  should  have  been  passed  one, 
two,  or  three  days  previous.  Any  one  who  has  to  "take 
something"  to  make  the  bowels  move  is  building  trou- 
ble very  fast,  he  is  very  badly  constipated. 

Constipation  is  a  full-grown  disorder  as  prolific  in 
the  production  of  other  disorders  as  some  germs  are 


Food  Fundamentals  61 

supposed  to  be  in  the  reproduction  of  their  kind.  The 
evil  effects  of  constipation  are  not  in  evidence  at  the 
onset  of  the  condition.  The  systematic  poisoning  that 
occurs  is  brought  about  gradually  and  insidiously.  The 
eliminating  organs,  the  skin,  kidneys,  lungs,  liver,  and 
glands,  are  steadily  and  faithfully  at  work  ridding  the 
body  of  the  accumulating  poisons.  They  may  succeed 
for  months  and  years  in  keeping  the  accumulation  be- 
low the  point  of  violent  explosion,  but  the  one  who  is 
constipated  may  be  quite  certain  that  trouble  as  a  result 
of  it  is  in  waiting  for  him.  Little  children  who  are  con- 
stipated are  certainly  on  the  direct  road  to  a  miserable 
life,  and  when  parents  are  advised  to  administer  soda, 
magnesia,  etc.,  to  these  little  ones  and  follow  the  ad- 
vice, they  hasten  the  day  when  the  child  will  have  a 
physical  break-down. 

The  causes  of  constipation  are  many.  There  have 
been  large  volumes  written  on  the  cause  and  cure  of 
constipation.  Any  one  case  may  have  one  or  many 
causes.  Overeating,  laxative  drugs,  and  neglect,  or 
irregularity  in  soliciting  a  bowel  movement  are  the 
greatest  of  all  the  causes.  One  of  the  most  important 
things  for  people  to  learn  is  that  all  laxative  drugs  build 
constipation.  There  is  not  a  good  medical  authority 
but  what  makes  this  fact  plain.  People  who  realize 
drugs  builds  constipation  continue  to  take  laxatives. 
Why?  Because  physicians  prescribe  them,  and  because 
the  people  do  not  know  anything  else  to  do.  Why  do 
physicians  prescribe  them  if  medical  authorities  warn 


62  Food  Fundamentals 

against  it?  Because  they  do  not  know  anything  else 
to  do.  If  we  grant  that  some  of  them  know  other 
measures  we  must  conclude  that  these  other  measures 
mean  too  much  work  on  the  part  of  the  physician,  for 
they  do  not  take  the  necessary  time  to  do  the  teaching 
that  accompanies  the  application  of  such  measures. 

"The  writer  regards  all  medicinal  agents  that 
force  bowel  action  by  irritation  (wrongly  termed 
"stimulation")  as  pernicious  and,  without  exception, 
harmful,  and  to  be  used  only  as  temporary  or  emer- 
gency measures. 

The  use  of  laxative  drugs  to  cure  constipation 
must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  certain  and  pro- 
lific causes  of  this  condition,  and  a  person  who  has 
once  formed  the  habit  of  using  laxatives  must  as  a 
rule  continue  the  practice  as  long  as  he  lives,  unless 
he  is  so  fortunate  as  to  find  some  one  wise  enough  to 
show  him  the  way  out  of  his  troubles. 

Most  drugs  which  act  upon  the  bowels  produce 
their  effect  only  after  having  been  absorbed  and  cir- 
culated through  the  blood.  This  has  been  proved  to 
be  true  even  in  the  case  of  saline  laxatives,  which  are 
absorbed  in  the  upper  part  of  the  intestine,  and  acting 
through  the  nerve  centers  controlling  the  colon,  pro- 
duce a  laxative  effect  long  before  the  drug  has  reached 
the  colon  through  the  intestines.  The  effect  of  many 
other  laxative  drugs  may  be  produced  by  injection 
under  the  skin.  It  is  thus  evident  that  the  action  of 
laxative  drugs  is  not  confined  to  the  intestine,  but 
through  absorption  into  the  blood  stream  these  irri- 
tating substances  are  brought  into  contact  will  all  the 
tissues. 

Bennett,  of  Edinburgh,  showed  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years  ago  that  calomel  does  not  increase  the 
action  of  the  liver,  and  his  observations  have  been  in 
recent  years  confirmed  by  Rutherford  and  others.  All 
laxative  drugs  are  irritant  poisons.    It  is  not  too  much 


Food  Fundamentals  63 

to  say  that  all  laxative  drugs  are  harmful.    There  is  no 
such  thing  as  a  harmless  laxative  medicine." 

(Kellogg). 

The  evil  effects  of  constipation  are  so  far-reaching 
and  so  serious  that  it  would  not  be  easy  to  convey  any 
adequate  idea  of  them  without  devoting  much  space  to 
enumerate  and  explain  them.  Those  that  stand  out 
prominently  are:  a  change  in  the  lymph  fluid  of  the 
body  in  which  it  becomes  laden  with  soured,  poisonous 
or  partly  decomposed  material ;  a  change  in  the  quality 
of  the  blood  similar  to  that  of  the  lymph  and  sometimes 
a  reduction  of  its  alkalinity  and  at  other  times  an  in- 
increase  of  its  acidity ;  a  profound  irritation  and  weak- 
ening of  the  nervous  system;  and  not  least  are  the 
direct  results  on  the  intestines,  injury  to  the  lining 
membrane  and  glands,  weakening  of  the  muscles  of  the 
intestinal  wall,  overdistention  and  lengthening. 

"The  fact  that  the  bowels  move  daily  or  even 
more  than  once  daily  must  not  be  regarded  as  evi- 
dence that  no  intestinal  toxemia  exists.  If  the  stools 
are  foul  smelling,  this  fact  alone  is  ample  evidence 
that  active  poisoning  is  taking  place.  Let  the  skeptical 
reader  consider  for  a  moment  what  would  be  the  re- 
sult if  the  foul  substances  discharged  in  a  bowel  move- 
ment were  in  some  way  returned  into  the  body.  Sup- 
pose, even,  that  a  person  were  for  twenty-four  hours 
shut  up  in  a  close  room  with  the  loathsome  products 
of  a  single  bowel  movement.  What  visions  of  head- 
ache, nausea,  loss  of  appetite,  depression  and  other 
miseries  rise  at  the  suggestion  of  such  a  wretched 
experience!  How  much  more  active  for  evil  must  be 
the  same  putrefying  mass  when  retained  in  the  colon, 
and  sending  into  the  blood  its  flood  of  horrible  toxins 
of  varied  sorts  and  potencies."    (Kellogg.) 


64  Food  Fundamentals 

It  should  be  apparent  that  to  cure  constipation  in 
the  real  sense  of  the  word  means  to  remove  all  the 
causes.  Nearly  all  cases  of  constipation  can  be  cured 
in  the  sense  that  the  bowels  will  move  one  or  more 
times  a  day,  —  a  sufficient  amount  to  prevent  accumu- 
lation of  poisons  from  this  source.  But  in  chronic  or 
long  standing  cases  there  has  been  damage  done  that 
never  can  be  repaired,  damage  to  the  mucous  mem- 
brane, glands,  nervous  system,  etc.  To  break  up  a  con- 
stipation is  no  little  task.  Whatever  measures  used  to 
break  it  up  must  be  followed  by  a  change  in  the  habits 
of  living  for  the  remainder  of  life  or  the  treatment  and 
teaching  are  not  of  the  best. 

But  little  can  be  done  for  a  patient  who  will  not 
solicit  a  bowel  movement  as  regularly  as  he  takes  his 
meals.  The  one  is  no  more  important  than  the  other. 
Three  bowel  movements  daily  is  more  normal  than  one. 
Home,  office,  school,  employer  and  employee,  —  all  hu- 
man activity  must  be  adjusted  so  the  impulse  to  have 
the  bowels  move  will  not  be  neglected  but  encouraged. 

Osteopathic  treatment,  short  fasts,  light  meals  of 
fruit,  sour  milk,  vegetables,  the  drinking  of  plenty  of 
water,  bran,  and  the  enema  of  water,  are  the  chief 
additional  measures  to  be  employed.  Special  cases  may 
need  other  measures,  and  there  are  many  other  meas- 
ures to  be  used.  It  requires  the  greatest  skill  upon 
the  part  of  a  physician  to  cure  constipation.  I  do  not 
believe  that  osteopathic  lesions  are  the  sole  cause  of 
constipation  in  any  case.    "Fix  the  nerve  centers  and 


Food  Fundamentals  65 

eat  what  you  please"  sounds  well,  but  it  is  wrong 
teaching.  It  is  wrong  to  teach  that  osteopathy  will 
cure  constipation  so  that  the  same  old  habits  of  living 
may  be  continued  and  the  patient  remain  well.  It  may 
be  said  in  answer  that  such  is  being  done.  But  that 
would  be  a  wrong  statement,  and  is  only  made  by  those 
who  do  not  understand  constipation.  If  the  osteopathic 
lesions  of  the  spine  are  an  important  cause,  then  their 
removal  is  the  potent  measure  to  be  employed  in  the 
cure,  otherwise  the  osteopathic  treatment  is  no  more 
of  a  cure  than  is  bran  or  the  enema.  To  secure  bowel 
movements  by  the  use  of  bran  is  not  a  cure  of  consti- 
pation. 

Some  wisdom  should  be  employed  in  the  taking  of 
enemas.  Harm  may  come  from  too  much  relaxation  of 
all  the  abdominal  tissues  as  a  result  of  the  warm 
enema;  also  from  overdistention ;  and  from  washing 
the  secretions  off  the  membrane ;  and  from  forming  the 
habit. 

To  avoid  overdistention  always  take  the  enema 
when  lying  down,  never  while  sitting  up ;  and  take  the 
water  slowly,  cutting  it  off  if  pain  or  evidence  of  over- 
distention is  present.  The  water  bag  should  be  two  or 
three  feet  above  the  patient.  Use  a  teaspoon  level  full 
of  salt  in  a  pint  of  water  or  heaping  full  to  the  quart. 
A  small  amount  of  cool  water,  about  a  pint,  is  often 
just  as  effective  as  much  more  warm  water.  The  cool 
water  brings  about  a  very  strong  muscular  movement 
or  peristalsis  of  the  bowels.     If  too  cool  it  makes  a 


66  Food  Fundamentals 

spasm  of  the  muscles  and  pain  and  the  water  cannot 
be  taken.  But  if  the  bowel  is  thoroughly  emptied  by 
a  small  enema  it  is  better  than  a  large  enema.  Two 
quarts  of  warm  water  may  be  used  to  obtain  results 
when  a  smaller  enema  is  not  successful.  If  there  are 
evidences  of  great  relaxation  afterwards,  such  as  weak- 
ness, or  aching  of  the  bowels,  or  an  all-gone  feeling, 
then  take  a  little  cool  water  into  the  bowel  after  the 
warm  has  been  discharged.  This  cool  water  may  be 
retained  or  discharged  as  desired.  It  will  tone  up  the 
blood  vessels  and  muscles. 

The  use  of  the  enema  in  acute  illness  and  in  chronic 
cases  is  different.  In  an  acute  case  it  is  often  well  to 
use  it  once  or  twice  daily  for  a  time.  In  chronic  cases 
it  is  a  very  questionable  practice  to  use  it  daily  for  any 
long  period  of  time,  and  as  a  rule  it  is  not  needed.  The 
osteopath  will  have  less  need  for  it  than  other  prac- 
titioners. 

Constipating  Foods. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  constipating  foods. 
Overeating  of  any  food  will  lead  to  constipation,  and 
this  is  true  if  the  food  is  rhubarb,  prunes,  onions  or 
anything  else.  It  may  be  that  too  great  a  quantity 
taken  at  one  meal  may  lead  to  frequent  movements  of 
the  bowels  in  some  people,  but  if  the  thing  is  often  re- 
peated the  final  result  will  be  constipation. 


Food  Fundamentals  67 

Some  foods  stimulate  peristalsis  of  the  stomach 
and  intestines  more  than  others  and  in  this  respect 
some  foods  may  be  spoken  of  as  laxative  foods,  but  if 
these  foods  are  ingested  too  often  and  in  too  large 
quantities  the  final  result  is  constipation.  This  is  not 
because  the  foods  are  constipating  but  because  irri- 
tation of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  intestines  and 
overindulgence  in  food  are  constipating. 

Cheese  is  not  constipating.  The  U.  S.  Government 
has  proven  that.  Cheese  is  a  very  strong  food  and 
when  a  little  of  it  is  added  to  a  full  meal  of  other  food, 
constipation  will  result;  not  because  of  the  cheese,  but 
because  of  overworking  the  digestive  apparatus.  If 
much  more  of  the  cheese  be  taken  with  much  less  other 
food  constipation  will  not  result  unless  overeating  has 
taken  place. 

Fiber  that  cannot  be  digested  and  certain  chem- 
icals in  foods  promote  peristalsis  of  stomach  and  in- 
testines. The  non-starchy  vegetables  contain  the  fiber 
and  when  eaten  raw  they  provide  such  chemicals.  But 
raw  fruits  take  first  place  among  those  foods  supply- 
ing the  chemicals. 

That  food,  then,  which  does  not  furnish  fiber  nor 
the  chemicals  might  be  spoken  of  as  more  constipating 
than  some  other  foods,  but  even  it  promotes  peristalsis 
and  is  not  truly  constipating.  Other  constipating  fac- 
tors must  be  present  to  bring  about  the  result.  Highly 
refined  flour  bread  leaves  but  little  fiber  or  cellulose 


68  Food  Fundamentals 

after  digestion,  and  it  does  not  provide  the  necessary 
chemicals  to  promote  peristalsis.  Therefore  bread  is 
more  constipating  than  some  other  foods,  and  with  it 
should  be  ingested  fiber  vegetables  or  bran.  Milk,  eggs, 
meat,  potatoes,  rice,  and  many  other  foods  are  almost 
wholly  assimilable  and  leave  but  little  refuse  in  the  in- 
testines. These  foods  should  not  be  eaten  without  sup- 
plying the  cellulose  or  fiber  material  that  should  ac- 
company them.  This  is  always  best  furnished  with 
fiber  vegetables.  The  fiber  vegetables  are  the  non- 
starchy  vegetables.  Some  of  them  contain  but  little 
fiber  and  others  contain  quite  a  good  deal,  but  those 
that  contain  but  little  furnish  much  vegetable  juice 
that  is  active  in  chemicals,  and  all  of  them  furnish  a 
goodly  supply  of  the  cellulose  and  the  chemicals.  An 
ounce  of  green  peas  furnish  about  nine  grains  of  cel- 
lulose while  an  ounce  of  dried  peas  furnish  twenty- 
eight  grains  of  cellulose.  Some  might  think  it  would 
be  wise  to  eat  the  dried  peas  with  the  bread  and  pota- 
toes, or  any  food  that  supplies  little  cellulose.  But  the 
dried  peas  furnish  much  nutriment  of  different  kinds 
and  give  a  large  task  to  the  digestive  apparatus,  so  it 
is  a  mistake  to  add  them  to  the  task  of  digestion  of 
potatoes,  meat,  bread,  etc.  The  same  is  true  of  dried 
and  green  beans.  It  is  the  green  or  non-starchy  vege- 
tables that  should  be  used  to  furnish  bulk  or  fiber. 


Food  Fundamentals  69 

OSTEOPATHIC  LESIONS  A  CAUSE  FOR 

DISEASE. 
By  osteopathic  lesions  we  mean 

"Any.  abnormality  of  structure  which  interferes 
with  function.  Do  not  get  the  idea  that  these  lesions 
are  great  big  things,  that  there  must  be  a  dislocated 
vertebra  or  rib,  or  a  spinal  curvature  or  some  great 
abnormality  in  order  to  constitute  a  lesion.  There  are 
comparatively  few  lesions  of  that  kind.  When  there 
is  the  least  particle  of  abnormality  of  position  of  spinal 
structure  or  when  there  is  change  in  the  relation  of 
bones,  ligaments  and  muscles,  these  conditions  con- 
stitute lesions.  We  may  have  a  rotation  of  a  vertebra 
and  that  is  a  lesion;  we  may  have  a  curvature  of  the 
spine  and  that  is  a  lesion ;  we  may  have  a  straight  spine 
and  that  is  a  lesion ;  a  rigid  spine,  hardened  or  tensed 
muscles  all  constitute  lesions.  They  are  all  lesions 
because  they  are  abnormal  structural  conditions  and 
interfere  with  the  origin  and  transmission  of  nerve 
force.  When  there  is  anything  wrong  with  the  nerve 
impulses,  some  disturbance  of  function  is  going  to 
occur. 

In  order  to  have  good  digestion,  good  elimination, 
etc.,  we  must  have  the  proper  distribution  of  nerve 
force  and  no  interference  with  the  nerves  after  they 
leave  the  central  nervous  system.  Any  of  the  lesions 
spoken  of  might  interfere  with  the  nutrition  to 
the  central  system  where  the  nerve  cells  are  located. 
The  spinal  cord  and  brain  must  be  nourished  with  good 
blood.  The  blood  carries  nutrition  from  the  gastro- 
intestinal tract  to  the  central  nervous  system.  If  there 
is  any  interference  to  the  blood  supply  on  account  of 
spinal  lesions,  the  nervous  impulses  will  be  weak  and 
the  individual  will  not  have  good  health.  Most  lesions 
come  on  slowly  and  may  be  two,  three,  four,  five  or 
even  twenty  years  in  developing.  Injury  and  trauma 
are  causes ;  overwork,  exposure  and  many  times  infec- 
tious diseases,  where  the  individual  is  extremely  ill  for 
a  period  of  time;  all  these  are  factors  which  will  pro- 


70  Food  Fundamentals 

duce  a  warping  and  twisting  of  the  spinal  column  and 
bring  about  mal-adjustment.     Chronic  diseases  come 
on  as  a  result  of  these  slowly  developing  diseases." 
(Dr.  G.  M.  Laughlin,  Osteopathic  Physician). 


Any  of  these  things  enervate,  deplete  and  exhaust 
the  nervous  system  resulting  in  faulty  elimination  and 
accumulation  of  poisons.  Where  osteopathic  treat- 
ment is  properly  applied  it  restores  a  normal  circula- 
tion of  blood  to  the  nervous  system,  the  spinal  cord  and 
brain.  In  doing  this  it  builds  up  the  nervous  system 
and  in  that  way  assists  the  functioning  of  every  organ. 
Now  it  does  not  matter  what  the  disease  it  is  a  great 
factor  in  its  treatment  to  build  up  the  nervous  system. 
Osteopathy  does  that,  and  it  can  be  correctly  stated, 
that  the  osteopathic  treatment  of  disease  has  a  wider 
and  more  universal  application  as  a  curative  measure 
than  the  osteopathic  lesion  has  as  a  causative  factor. 
The  osteopathic  lesion  is  not  the  cause  of  all  diseases, 
but  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  the  treatment  of  the 
osteopath  will  assist  in  the  cure  of  a  diseased  condition 
which  has  been  wholly  brought  about  by  wrong  eating 
and  living.  The  most  potent  active  therapeutic  meas- 
ure that  can  be  administered  to  one  suffering  from 
accumulation  of  poisons  is  the  osteopathic  treatment, 
unless,  perchance,  the  withholding  of  food  be  consid- 
ered an  active  therapeutic  measure.  When  the  osteo- 
path adds  to  his  treatment  the  teaching  of  his  clientele 
the  correct  habits  of  living,  he  is  practicing  the  broad- 
est and  most  complete  system  of  medicine  known. 


Food  Fundam^-ntals  71 

Osteopaths  frequently  give  expression  to  the  idea 
that  wrong  food,  wrong  combinations,  or  overeating 
is  an  osteopathic  lesion ;  that  any  wrong  habit  of  living 
is  an  osteopathic  lesion ;  that  any  visceral  trouble  is  an 
osteopathic  lesion.  They  recognize  these  troubles  and 
feel  they  should  regard  them  as  osteopathic  lesions  in 
order  to  justify  their  treatment  of  them.  This  view  is 
not  a  necessary  one  at  all.  They  are  no  more  osteop- 
athic lesions  than  allopathic,  and  they  are  neither.  Is 
it  osteopathic  to  treat  disease  by  regulating  the  diet? 
Well  it  depends  upon  what  is  meant  by  osteopathic. 
I  do  not  think  it  is,  but  I  think  any  osteopath  who  does 
not  treat  in  this  way  is  falling  very  far  short  of  the 
opportunities  his  profession  affords  him. 

The  fundamental  upon  which  the  osteopathic 
treatment  is  based  may  be  stated  in  this  way :  the  ad- 
justment of  the  abnormal  relation  of  the  body  tissues 
will  favorably  affect  the  functioning  of  them.  The 
treatment  administered  to  accomplish  this  adjustment 
is  manipulative  in  nature.  Therefore,  anything  else  is 
outside  of  the  realm  of  the  fundamental  of  osteopathy. 

Osteopathy  is  applicable  to  all  conditions  because 
it  affects  the  circulation  to  the  spinal  cord  and  brain 
and  in  this  way  maintains  the  vitality  of  the  nervous 
system  against  the  onslaught  of  disease. 

The  fundamental  upon  which  the  allopathic  sys- 
tem of  medicine  is  based  may  be  stated  thus :  drugs  or 
medicines  are  administered  internally  to  favorably 
affect  the  functioning  of  the  body  tissues  and  organs. 


72  Food  Fundamentals 

Anything  outside  of  such  administration  of  drugs  is 
outside  the  realm  of  the  fundamental  of  allopathic 
medicine. 

There  is  nothing  gained  by  an  exaggerated  state- 
ment of  a  fact,  and  much  is  gained  by  the  proper  state- 
ment of  it. 


MENTAL  ATTITUDE. 
Of  the  bad  habits  of  living  the  mental  attitude  as- 
sumes an  important  place.  No  digestive  apparatus 
will  work  perfectly  if  influenced  by  a  mind  out  of  tune. 
Jealousy,  anger,  fear  and  worry  are  the  worst  afflic- 
tions along  this  line.  But  not  a  few  individuals  are 
sorely  distressed  with  lesser  ones.  The  cause  of  these 
things  must  be  understood  and  removed.  The  follow- 
ing remarks  discuss  some  common  mental  attitudes 
sensibly  : 

"Fear  is  the  most  destructive  emotion  of  the  mind ; 
it  paralyzes,  kills,  and  destroys.  Fear  and  worry  are 
synonymous  terms.  If  we  do  not  worry  we  do  not  fear, 
and  if  we  do  not  fear  we  do  not  become  angry.  Worry, 
fear,  and  anger  are  the  grossest  forms  of  egotism  — 
self-imaginativeness.  Fear  is  due  to  superstition  and 
ignorance.  Fearlessness  must  be  cultivated  by  every 
individual.  Fear  is  the  one  demoralizing  agent.  It  lets 
down  the  bars  and  opens  the  system  to  the  inroads  of 
disease,  inviting  the  very  evil  that  we  dread.  It  shuts 
off  any  healing  action  in  proportion  as  we  are  held 
under  by  its  paralyzing  and  depressing  influences.  Op- 
posed to  this  is  faith,  which  gives  assurance,  confidence, 
and  trusting  expectancy ;  is  the  one  restoring  and  sus- 
taining mental  state.  Faith  is  the  antidote  to  fear. 
Faith  restores  and  exalts  as  much  as  fear  demoralizes 
and  depresses. 


Food  Fundamentals  73 

If  it  were  possible  for  me  to  teach  humanity  how 
not  to  worry,  I  feel  that  I  could  have  accomplished  no 
work  more  far-reaching  and  beneficial  in  its  results. 
Just  as  overeating  is  probably  the  greatest  sin  that  is 
committed  against  the  physical  body,  so  in  like  manner 
is  worry  the  greatest  sin  committed  against  the  mind 
or  mental  body. 

Worry,  or  the  worrying  habit,  can  be  cured;  un- 
doubtedly so,  but  only  by  a  systematic  method  of  train- 
ing of  both  body  and  mind.  Worry  is  a  habit  of  the 
mind,  which  is  as  susceptible  to  training,  subjection, 
and  control  as  is  any  other  individual  function  of  the 
body. 

Worry  is  a  most  useless  employment.  Certainly 
one  should  not  worry  over  what  can  be  helped  or  pre- 
vented. If  it  can  be  prevented,  all  that  remains  to  be 
done  is  for  the  individual  to  do  it,  and  the  trouble  is 
ended.  If  it  cannot  be  prevented,  only  harm  comes 
from  thinking  about  it. 

The  individual  must  he  his  own  physician.  He 
must  realize,  with  every  fiber  of  his  being,  the  utter, 
absolute  uselessness  of  the  sin  of  worry.  He  must 
understand  that  if  it  were  possible  for  him  to  spend  a 
thousand  years  in  thinking  it  out,  in  worry,  it  would 
not  change  the  facts,  causes,  or  conditions,  one  jot  or 
iota.  One  must  fully  realize  and  be  impressed  with  all 
this  in  his  inmost  consciousness  before  recovery  is 
likely  to  come.  When  this  point  is  reached,  the  point 
where  every  worrier  perceives  the  absolute  senseless- 
ness and  futility  of  worrying,  the  cure  of  worry  will 
have  begun. 

Fear  is  not  the  only  emotion  that  can  do  us  deadly 
harm.  Grief  is  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  gen- 
erally recognized  of  these  killing  emotions.  A  fit  of 
anger  will  destroy  appetite,  check  indigestion,  and  un- 
settle the  nerves  for  hours,  even  days.  It  will  be  ob- 
served that  excitement  may  become  a  vice,  and  become 
harmful  in  its  effects  when  carried  to  excess.  Jealousy 
will  upset  the  entire  system,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
deadly  enemies  to  health,  happiness,  and  success. 


74  Food  Fundamentals 

These  bodily  effects  of  the  emotions,  and  many- 
others,  are  in  part  due  to  certain  chemical  products 
formed  in  the  body  by  the  emotions,  and  are  analogous 
in  their  effects  to  the  venom  of  poisonous  snakes,  which 
is  likewise  secreted  under  the  influence  of  fear  and 
anger.  A  snake  has  a  receptacle  or  sac  in  which  to 
store  the  venom ;  man  has  nothing  of  this  kind,  so  that 
the  venom  spreads  through  all  the  tissues  in  spite  of 
efforts  to  eliminate  it. 

The  emotions  of  sadness,  pain,  and  grief  affect  the 
bodily  secretions  and  excretions.  It  can  be  shown  in 
many  ways  that  the  elimination  of  waste  products  is 
retarded  by  sad  and  painful  emotions;  not  only  this, 
but  that  the  depressing  emotions  directly  augment  the 
amount  of  these  poisons.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
pleasurable  and  happy  emotions,  during  the  time  they 
are  active,  inhibit  the  poisonous  effects  of  the  depress- 
ing moods,  and  cause  the  bodily  cells  to  create  and  store 
up  vital  energy  and  nutritive  tissue  products.  By  proper 
training,  the  depressing  emotions  can  be  practically 
eliminated  from  life,  and  the  good  emotions  rendered 
permanently  dominant  We  must  live  in  the  happy 
memory  of  what  was  once  enjoyed,  rather  than  with 
useless  regrets. 

Self-pity  is  one  of  the  greatest  afflictions  that  can 
happen  to  any  individual.  It  begins  by  a  surrender 
of  one's  pluck  and  moral  courage  in  combating  the 
battles  of  life.  It  is  the  giving  up  of  hope,  the  loss 
of  which  is  dangerous.  Without  hope  life  would  not 
be  worth  living.  In  becoming  the  victim  of  self-pity 
we  invite  disease,  mental  disease,  and  its  resultant 
condition  of  'chronic  invalidism.'  We  become  cowards 
in  our  own  estimation."     (Sager.) 

"It  is  impossible  to  correct  digestive  troubles  so 
long  as  an  individual  lives  in  an  atmosphere  of  discon- 
tent; all  that  can  be  done  is  to  palliate  by  selecting 
foods  and  food  combinations  that  offer  the  least  tax 
to  the  digestive  functions.    When  these  people  are  per- 


Food  Fundamentals  75 

suaded  to  believe  that  food  has  nothing  to  do  with  their 
bad  feelings,  and  they  recklessly  eat  anything  and 
everything  they  certainly  become  very  miserable. 

Almost  daily  I  am  told,  by  someone,  of  the  many 
articles  of  food  that  disagree  with  him  and  then  he 
adds  that  at  times  these  foods  agree.  The  reason  for 
this  is  that  the  mind  is  better  poised  at  one  time  than 
at  another  and  there  is  more  nerve  energy  than  usual. 
Whatever  the  general  opinion,  I  know  that  these  pa- 
tients can  be  made  comparatively  comfortable  when 
taught  to  suit  their  eating  to  their  moods."     (Tilden.) 


76  Food  Fundamentals 

PART    2 

FOODS. 

A  complete  discussion  of  many  of  the  subjects 
already  mentioned  would  require  a  book  in  itself.  It 
has  been  our  object  to  say  things  that  would  open  up 
channels  of  thought  and  incite  further  study.  Food 
does  not  cure  anything.  No  food  can  be  given  that 
will  cure  anything.  The  withholding  of  food  or  the 
properly  prescribing  it  may  be  very  helpful.  There 
is  no  one  diet  that  can  be  claimed  to  be  superior  to  all 
others.  No  one  has  a  corner  on  any  diet,  or  any  diet 
idea.  There  is  merit  in  many  different  ideas  about 
diet.  To  separate  the  chaff  from  the  wheat  in  diet 
ideas  is  the  thing  needed. 

In  considering  foods  we  ignore  the  usual  classifica- 
tion and  discuss  them  under  the  general  heads  of  Rich 
Starchy  Foods,  Rich  Protein  Foods,  Non-Starchy  Veg- 
etables, Fruits  and  Fats.  The  terms  are  not  original 
with  the  author  but  they  or  modified  forms  of  them 
are  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  Dr.  J.  H.  Tilden,  and 
the  combinations  we  use  are  largely  the  result  of  experi- 
ments conducted  along  lines  suggested  in  his  writings. 

FOODS  RICH  IN  MATURE  STARCH. 
So  that  the  term  may  not  be  bunglesome  this  class 
of  food  is  spoken  of  as  Starchy  Food.    Irish  potatoes, 
sweet  potatoes,  rice,  tapioca,  dry  beans,  dry  peas,  and 


Food  Fundamentals  77 

the  various  grains  including  the  products  made  from 
them,  such  as:  all  kinds  of  bread,  cakes,  crackers, 
doughnuts,  the  different  flaked  cereals,  oatmeal  mush, 
cornmeal  mush,  shredded  wheat,  macaroni,  hominy, 
cornstarch  products,  comprise  the  list  that  are  most 
frequently  found  on  the  table.  In  these  foods  starch  is 
found  in  its  mature  or  granular  form  which  is  more 
difficult  of  digestion  than  starch  in  the  milk  form  found 
in  many  of  the  green  vegetables. 

"Most  people  have  from  one  to  six  kinds  of 
starches  on  their  table  three  times  a  day."  (Tilden). 
Is  there  a  known  good  reason  why  an  individual  must 
have  some  one  or  more  of  these  foods  at  every  meal? 
Is  it  any  more  necessary  to  take  a  rich  starchy  food  at 
every  meal  than  it  is  to  take  a  rich  protein  food,  like 
meat,  at  every  meal  ? 

The  never  failing  presence  of  one  or  more  of  the 
rich  starchy  foods  on  the  table  may  be  accounted  for. 
Physicians  almost  universally  give  their  approval  to 
the  custom;  certainly  there  are  few  of  them  found 
decrying  it.  The  starches  are  all  palatable.  They  are 
easily  prepared.  No  class  of  food  can  be  so  easily 
stored  away  for  hasty  use  without  fear  of  decomposi- 
tion. As  a  class  they  are  the  cheapest  food  on  the 
markets.  They  can  be  mixed  in  a  palatable  way  with 
nearly  every  other  known  article  of  diet,  and  the 
writers  on  dietetics  and  home  economics  have  worked 
the  public  up  to  a  high-pressure  temptation  to  mix, 


78  Food  Fundamentals 

mix,  mix,  until  it  has  become  a  consuming  fever.  So 
the  habit  is  established.  And  "Nothing  in  life  is 
stronger  than  habit,  nothing  harder  to  overcome." 
(Sager). 

When  given  an  opportunity  the  saliva  starts  the 
digestion  of  starch.  If  conditions  in  the  stomach  are 
favorable  the  further  digestion  of  starch  occurs  there. 
The  greater  part  of  the  digestion  of  starch  is  accom- 
plished in  the  intestines.  Hence  individuals  suffering 
with  intestinal  trouble  should  know  that  this  class  of 
food  is  not  the  most  suitable  for  them.  Starch  is  a 
food  best  used  largely  by  itself.  And  the  same  obser- 
vation may  be  made  of  any  other  class  of  food.  It  is 
a  good  rule  to  eat  very  few  different  articles  of  food 
at  any  one  meal.  This  may  seem  like  turning  civiliza- 
tion backward,  but  it  means  that  the  sick  will  be  better 
prepared  to  go  forward. 

The  amount  of  digestion  by  the  saliva  will  be  de- 
termined by  the  chewing  and  the  time  the  food  remains 
in  the  mouth.  The  usual  habit  of  eating  is  such  that  it 
is  almost  negligible.  While  all  foods  should  be  well 
chewed,  this  is  particularly  true  of  starchy  food.  It 
should  be  chewed  and  insalivated  until  it  is  very  fluid 
in  nature.  It  is  a  food  that  should  never  be  taken  at  a 
meal  which  must  be  eaten  hastily.  This  fact  creates 
the  tremendous  verdict  against  eating  crackers,  milk 
toast,  liquid  oatmeal,  milk  on  flakes,  crackers  in  soup ; 
or  against  taking  anything  of  a  liquid  or  juicy  nature 


Food  Fundamentals  79 

into  the  mouth  at  the  same  time  with  starch,  like  fruit, 
celery,  or  any  vegetable;  against  the  taking  of  sweets 
into  the  mouth  at  the  same  time,  like  sugar  on  oatmeal, 
etc.,  for  the  sweet  excites  so  great  a  flow  of  saliva  that 
the  morsel  is  swallowed  before  it  is  properly  chewed 
and  digested.  And  there  are  other  things  v>^hich 
strongly  condemn  this  manner  of  eating  starch. 

Starch  being  best  digested  in  an  alkaline  medium, 
it  follows  that  mixing  starch  and  foods  that  are  acid 
or  that  require  an  acid  medium  for  digestion,  is  not  a 
good  combination.  When  fruit,  for  instance,  is  taken 
with  the  starchy  foods,  the  acid  in  the  fruit  will 
counteract  the  effect  of  the  alkaline  fluids  in  the  diges- 
tion of  starch  and  delayed  digestion  takes  place.  And 
very  often  this  thing  does  not  terminate  with  delayed 
digestion,  but  fermentation  of  the  food  takes  place  and 
violent  poisons  are  formed  and  thrown  into  the  blood 
for  assimilation.  Meat  or  other  protein  foods  are  di- 
gested in  an  acid  medium  and  do  not  combine  well  with 
starch  for  this  reason.  They  also  result  in  overloading 
the  digestive  system  with  work,  when  combined  with 
starch. 

"To  starch's  credit  it  must  be  said  that  its  great 
offending  is  due  more  to  the  company  it  is  forced  to 
keep  than  to  its  own  influence."  (Tilden).  Certain 
foods  may  be  combined  in  a  meal  with  starch,  but 
usually  should  not  be  taken  into  the  mouth  at  the 
same  time.     Starch  goes  well  with  milk,  butter  or 


80  Food  Fundamentals 

non-starchy  vegetables.  The  milk  may  be  whole  or 
skimmed.  Some  individuals  may  use  buttermilk,  but 
I  have  found  starch  and  buttermilk  a  combination 
that  is  dubious.  A  small  amount  of  honey  may  be 
used  on  starch  by  those  who  are  not  very  ill.  A  little 
bacon  may  be  taken  by  the  same  class  of  individuals. 
Other  combinations  with  starch  are  questionable,  but 
reviewing  the  list  of  non-starchy  vegetables  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  number  of  combinations  are  abundant. 

Those  individuals  who  will  persist  in  making  fur- 
ther combinations  can  use  the  sweet  fruits,  as  raisins, 
dates,  figs,  pineapple,  mild  apple,  especially  baked 
sweet  apple.  The  raw  fruit  will  combine  with  starch 
better  than  stewed  fruit  because  the  acids  in  raw 
fruit  are  more  stable  in  character.  People  who  are 
complaining  cannot  use  questionable  combinations  with 
safety. 

Bananas  should  not  be  classified  as  a  fruit.  They 
are  seventy-five  per  cent  water,  twenty-two  per  cent 
carbohydrate;  they  have  quite  a  little  oil  and  some 
protein.  They  are  practically  free  of  acid.  For  my 
purposes  they  are  best  classed  as  a  starch. 

The  banana  supplies  quite  a  good  deal  of  nutri- 
tious material.  It  has  the  consistency  of  some  clay  and 
when  mashed  in  the  mouth  the  particles  do  not  sep- 
arate, and  in  the  stomach  they  remain  intact  just  to 
decompose.  This  characteristic  of  the  banana  unfits  it 
for  food  for  children  and  others  who  eat  hastily.  To 
overcome  this  tendency  it  may  be  chewed  with  bran. 


Food  Fundamentals  81 

or  thorough  mastication  of  the  banana  alone  will  in 
part  overcome  it.  The  digestibility  of  bananas  is  im- 
proved if  they  are  baked.  They  may  be  split  and 
placed  in  a  pan  without  the  addition  of  anything  and 
baked  in  a  moderate  oven  until  soft.  The  taste  of  them 
is  changed  by  this  process,  and  some  have  to  learn  to 
like  the  taste  in  this  case  just  as  they  do  in  many 
other  foods.  Most  people  are  prejudiced  against  the 
baked  banana  because  of  its  appearance. 

The  different  cereal  flakes,  shredded  wheat,  grape- 
nuts,  and  the  various  kinds  of  foods  on  this  order  are 
partly  digested  starchy  foods.  Some  of  them  are  less 
concentrated  than  others,  but  most  of  them  are  more 
concentrated  than  the  same  weight  of  ordinary  bread 
or  potato.  They  are  not  to  be  condemned,  but  under- 
stood. They  will  be  digested  in  less  time  than  other 
starches  and  therefore  are  more  stimulating.  It  is 
easy  to  overeat  of  this  kind  of  foods,  and  here  is  the 
real  danger  in  them.  The  sweet  taste  of  them  is  evi- 
dence of  part  digestion,  and  this  very  thing  leads  to 
swallowing  them  quickly  and  taking  more  of  them 
than  the  system  needs.  Grapenuts  are  especially  con- 
centrated and  stimulating.  Shredded  wheat  is  good 
food  for  those  who  like  it  dry.  If  these  things  are 
understood  a  choice  of  kind  of  starch  is  all  there  is 
to  a  choice  of  these  foods.  If  prepared  foods  of  this 
nature  be  added  to  the  usual  amount  of  the  rich  starchy 
foods  no  doubt  overeating  of  starches  will  be  the 
result. 


82  Food  Fundamentals 

If  one  is  fond  of  the  taste  of  whole-wheat  biscuit 
bread  there  is  no  reason  why  he  should  substitute 
shredded  wheat  for  it.  If  a  child  chooses  cereal  flakes 
eaten  dry  instead  of  bread  or  potato,  there  is  no  good 
reason  why  its  wishes  should  not  be  granted.  In  truth 
there  is  very  great  reason  why  they  should  be  granted. 
If  there  is  no  fundamental  difference  in  the  taking  of 
two  different  starches,  the  one  which  gives  the  most 
enjoyment  should  be  used.  But  there  is  a  fundamental 
difference  in  taking  cereal  flakes  soaked  with  milk  and 
toasted  bread  eaten  dry,  or  the  cereal  flakes  eaten  dry. 
All  prepared  cereal  foods  should  be  eaten  as  the  rich 
starchy  foods. 

Starchy  foods  are  very  prone  to  ferment.  Foi 
this  reason  those  with  weak  digestion  should  be  careful 
that  starchy  foods  are  not  taken  into  the  stomach  at 
a  time  when  the  stomach  is  not  prepared  to  receive 
food;  they  should  give  special  attention  to  the  masti- 
cation of  starch ;  they  should  use  only  the  most  appro- 
priate of  the  starchy  foods,  and  proper  combinations 
with  them. 

Yeast  contributes  very  much  to  the  readiness  with 
which  bread  ferments,  so  that  while  starch  is  the 
class  of  foods  that  ferments  the  easiest,  yeast  bread 
heads  the  list  of  this  class  in  this  respect.  It  is  the 
most  treacherous  of  foods,  and  nothing  in  the  way  of 
food  can  be  more  expensive  than  an  inferior  quality 
of  baker's  bread  made  with  yeast.  My  sympathies  go 
out  to  children  whose  parents  furnish  them  with  such 


Food  Fundamentals  83 

food,  and  whose  teachers  give  their  approval  of  it 
in  school  lunches,  and  whose  Sunday-school  teachers 
and  church  authorities  and  organizations  furnish  it  to 
them  in  lunches.  When  those  higher  up  make  a  little 
study  of  the  food  they  are  giving  their  children  they 
will  perform  a  great  service  to  their  God  and  their  off- 
spring, and  will  answer  many  of  their  own  prayers. 
Such  neglect  of  things  vital  occurs  with  sickening 
regularity  and  persistence.  Too  often  mothers  have 
time  for  most  anything  else  but  bread-making.  Yeast 
bread  should  be  banished  from  the  table,  and  though 
the  custom  of  using  it  is  solidly  intrenched  the  final 
results  of  people  thinking  for  themselves  will  be  indig- 
nation that  will  work  a  change.  Toasting  bread  makes 
it  less  likely  to  ferment,  so  sickly  people  should  toast 
their  bread.  Hot,  fresh  bread  is  no  worse  than  cold 
fresh  bread,  and  the  only  advantage  offered  by  stale 
bread  is  the  necessity  of  chewing  it  more  thoroughly. 

Preparation  of  Starch. 
Starch  is  a  food,  the  digestibility  of  which  is  im- 
proved by  cooking  or  baking.  No  method  of  cooking 
should  be  used  that  will  result  in  leaving  the  starchy 
mass  liquid  in  nature.  It  should  be  firm  or  dry  so 
that  chewing  will  be  induced.  This  should  be  remem- 
bered in  preparing  oatmeal  porridge,  rice,  or  starchy 
foods  of  this  nature.  They  should  be  firm,  and  eaten 
with  a  little  butter  and  without  sugar.  Any  addition 
of  cream  or  milk  should  be  so  manipulated  as  to  not 
hasten  the  swallowing  process.     It  is  best  to  sip  the 


84  Food  Fundamentals 

milk  after  the  starch  is  eaten.  Honey  may  occasionally 
be  used  on  these  foods  by  those  who  know  their  ability 
to  digest,  and  respect  it. 

Potatoes  should  be  baked.  They  may  be  peeled, 
boiled  until  done,  then  browned  in  the  oven.  Mashed 
potatoes  do  not  permit  of  enough  chewing,  and  en- 
courage overeating.  When  gravy  is  added  to  mashed 
potatoes  they  are  quite  objectionable.  Such  food  is  a 
curse  to  children.  Fried  potatoes  cannot  be  too  severely 
condemned,  and  this  is  especially  true  when  raw  pota- 
toes are  fried. 


"White-flour  bread  is  easier  to  digest  than  any 
other.  A  properly  made  and  baked  white-flour  biscuit 
offers  the  least  tax  on  digestive  energy  of  any  bread, 
unless  it  is  the  same  biscuit  split  and  toasted. 

Whole-wheat  bread  is  a  splendid  food  for  those 
with  power  to  digest  it ;  but  how  about  the  invalid  who 
cannot  extract  nourishment  from  it?  It  furnishes 
building  material  and  energy;  but  the  question  must 
be  settled :  Does  it  cost  the  body  so  much  effort  to  ex- 
tract the  nourishment  that  its  energies  are  all  used  up 
in  simply  digesting  —  vegetating?  It  is  believed  that 
white-flour  bread  starves  those  who,  exclusively,  eat 
of  it.  Grant  that  such  bread  does  not  contain  all  the 
properties  of  whole  wheat,  we  must  not  forget  that  we 
do  not  need  a  great  supply  of  building  material  after 
we  are  through  growing  —  at  that  time  in  life  when 
digestion  is  more  vigorous  than  at  any  other  time. 
After  this  age,  white  flour  conserves  energy  by  not  re- 
quiring so  much  force  to  digest  it,  and  if  there  is  some- 
thing lacking,  the  appetite  will  drive  the  individual  to 
a  source  of  supply  that  will  yield  it  with  less  expendi- 
ture of  energy  than  it  required  to  extract  it  from  whole 
wheat. 


Food  Fundamentals  85 

People  with  small  digestive  power  for  the  starchy 
class  of  foods,  strange  to  say,  are  the  ones  who  eat 
freely  of  whole-wheat  and  bran  bread.  The  coarse 
bread  is  used  because  of  its  reputation  for  regulating 
the  bowels;  but  it  is  a  false  reputation,  for  this  class 
of  patients  soon  evolves  a  toleration  for  the  roughness, 
and  the  cellulose  which  is  reputed  to  be  a  remedy  for 
constipation  acts  in  exactly  the  opposite  way. 

Biscuit  can  be  made  from  white  flour,  or  an  ad- 
mixture of  whole  wheat  flour,  if  desired.  When  whole 
wheat  is  used  beyond  a  two-thirds  proportion,  the 
dough  is  so  porous  that  the  gas  from  the  baking-powder 
is  lost,  and  of  course,  fails  to  rise  and  make  the  bread 
light.  The  more  whole  wheat  used,  the  more  rapid 
must  be  the  process  of  mixing  and  getting  the  dough 
into  the  oven. 

When  the  bread  is  made  from  white  flour  that  con- 
tains much  gluten,  many  good  bread-makers  allow  the 
molded  biscuits  to  stand  in  a  warming-oven  until  they 
rise,  before  placing  them  into  the  bake-oven.  This 
should  be  done  when  the  bake-oven  is  hot  enough  for 
the  bread  to  bake  rapidly. 

To  make  good  bread,  all  the  elements  comprising 
it  must  be  pure ;  and  if  they  are  not  —  if  one  of  the  ele- 
ments is  not  good  —  the  bread  will  be  imperfect,  if  not 
a  failure.  When  all  the  elements  are  perfect,  the  bread 
may  be  ruined  because  of  a  lack  of  skill  in  manipulating 
it.  There  are  people  so  slow  in  their  movements  — 
so  lacking  in  manipulative  dexterity  —  that  they  are 
failures  as  bread-makers. 

All  the  ingredients  should  be  brought  together,  so 
that,  when  the  mixing  is  started,  the  work  will  not  be 
delayed,  and  the  bread  ruined,  by  having  to  stop  and 
run  after  some  forgotten  ingredient.  The  mixing 
should  be  done  with  a  light  hand,  yet  thoroughly,  and 
finished  as  quickly  as  possible.  The  secret  of  good  bis- 
cuits is  to  have  all  the  elements  perfect,  and  then  mixed 
with  a  deft  hand.  The  sooner  the  bread  is  in  the  oven 
after  the  mixing  is  begun,  the  better  the  bread  will  be. 
Too  many  rustle,  tussle,  and  waste  so  much  time  before 


86  Food  Fundamentals 

the  dough  reaches  the  oven  that  when  it  is  baked  it  is 
of  such  mongrel  properties  that  no  real  bread-maker 
would  own  it. 

In  the  matter  of  manipulating  the  baking  much 
skill  is  required.  The  bread-maker  must  be  acquainted 
with  the  oven  and  know  when  it  is  in  proper  heat  for 
baking.  In  a  few  words,  it  requires  skill  in  every  detail 
to  insure  good  bread.  How  many  housewives  have  it? 
A  few  have  it,  but  do  not  have  the  proper  materials  to 
work  with;  others  have  everything  but  skill.  This  is 
not  strange;  for  the  commonest  shortcoming  of  frail 
mankind  is  lack  of  efficiency,  and  this  is  oftener  due 
to  an  overgrown  conceit  than  to  any  innate  lack  of  skill. 

Yeastless  Bread. 

To  a  quart  of  white  flour  add  salt  sufficient ;  a  heap- 
ing teaspoonful  of  baking-powder;  two  tablespoonfuls 
of  melted  butter;  make  into  a  dough  with  unskimmed 
milk.  Bake  in  the  form  of  a  loaf  or  biscuit.  When 
baked,  allow  the  bread  to  cool;  then  slice  and  return 
to  the  oven  and  toast;  or,  if  made  into  biscuits,  when 
they  come  from  the  oven  they  should  not  be  more  than 
an  inch  thick,  baked  to  a  good  crisp  crust,  bottom  and 
top.  The  left-over  biscuits  can  be  split  and  toasted 
for  future  eating."     (Tilden.) 

(Author's  Note  :  If  the  oven  is  faultless  and  there 
is  reasonable  skill,  a  little  practice  will  prove  these  to 
be  excellent  forms  of  bread.  Where  the  oven  is  not 
perfect  and  skill  is  not  abundant,  the  addition  of  more 
baking-powder  and  butter  may  help  to  make  up  for 
these  deficiencies.  Unskimmed  milk  to  which  is  added^ 
a  little  cream  is  an  improvement). 

FOODS  RICH  IN  PROTEIN. 
The  protein  in  the  body  is  derived  from  many  of 
the  different  foods,  but  those  in  which  it  occurs  in 
decided  strength  are,  all  kinds  of  meat,  eggs,  cheese, 


Food  FU>fDAMENTALS  87 

nuts,  dry  beans,  dry  peas,  and  milk.  These  are  the 
foods  to  which  I  refer  when  I  speak  of  protein  foods. 
The  oxidation  of  protein  "furnishes  energy,  especially 
heat  energy  to  the  body,  and,  moreover,  a  portion  of 
it  is  used  to  reconstruct  the  living  protoplasm  which 
breaks  down  in  the  functional  activity  of  the  tissues." 
(Howell). 

The  student  of  diet  should  not  forget  that  protein 
occurs  in  many  articles  of  diet.  It  occurs  in  an  appre- 
ciable amount  in  some  of  what  are  called  elsewhere 
the  non-starchy  vegetables.  This  fact  is  too  often 
overlooked.  It  is  well  to  think  of  eggs,  cheese,  and 
nuts,  as  though  they  were  meat.  They  should  be  so 
regarded  and  combined. 

The  usual  daily  protein  consumption  is  much 
greater  than  the  needs  of  the  body  demand.  My  expe- 
rience with  the  sick  persuades  me  that  whatever 
amount  is  taken  beyond  the  needs  of  the  body  is  a 
positive  injury.  It  does  not  add  to  the  resources  of  the 
body,  but  is  carried  as  a  burden,  forms  poisonous 
material,  and  destroys  the  chemical  equilibrium  of  the 
body.  Only  our  intelligence  and  our  knowledge  of 
foods  will  enable  us  to  know  how  much  we  should  take. 
Each  individual  must  learn  for  himself  the  amount  he 
needs.  And  with  a  little  information  about  foods, 
good  judgment,  and  a  wise  interpretation  of  his  expe- 
rience, he  can  know  better  than  any  physician,  his 
needs  in  this  line. 


88  Food  Fundamentals 

Cheese  is  a  very  strong  protein  food,  much  too 
strong  to  make  it  wise  to  add  a  little  of  it  to  a  full 
meal  of  other  food.  And  only  a  small  amount  of  it 
can  be  handled  at  any  meal.  One  egg  furnishes  enough 
protein  for  a  day,  and  certainly  not  more  than  two 
should  be  eaten,  and  this  should  be  the  total  of  the 
rich  protein  food  for  that  day.  Nuts  are  a  very  strong 
protein  food,  and  the  thorough  chewing  of  nuts  is  im- 
portant. It  is  easy  to  allow  small  particles  of  the  nut 
meat  to  be  swallowed  without  mashing  it.  These  bits 
of  unchewed  nuts  will  tenaciously  resist  the  action  of 
the  digestive  fluids.  Protein  once  a  day  is  sufficient 
for  those  who  need  most  food  of  that  character,  and 
for  many  individuals  less  often  is  quite  sufficient. 

"There  are  two  main  schools  of  dietitians ;  namely : 
those  who  are  known  as  vegetarians  and  those  who  are 
not  —  those  who  believe  in  all  foods,  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal. The  latter  school  is  divided  into  those  who  believe 
in  a  large  intake  of  proteid  and  those  who  believe  in  a 
low  intake.  Voit  heads  the  first  class,  advocating  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  grams  of  proteid.  Chittenden 
is  at  the  head  of  the  other  class,  recommending  half, 
or  sixty  grams  of  proteid,  and  even  as  low  as  thirty- 
five  to  forty  grams. 

Those  who  belong  to  the  120  grams  of  proteid 
school  recommend  twenty  eggs  a  day.  The  low  pro- 
teid school  advocates  from  six  to  ten.  From  the  stand- 
point of  this  periodical,  even  the  low  school  is  much 
too  high. 

Professor  Chittenden  came  into  his  knowledge  of 
the  benefit  of  a  low  proteid  diet  by  experimenting  on 
himself.  He  had  persistent  rheumatism  of  the  knee- 
joint,  which  he  got  rid  of,  along  with  'sick  headaches' 
and  bilious  attacks,  by  cutting  down  his  eating. 


Food  Fundamentals  89 

Graham,  of  the  'Graham  System,'  declared  that 
he  got  rid  of  headaches,  colds,  constipation,  and  rheu- 
matism by  cutting  down  his  food  supply  so  low  that 
his  neighbors  declared  he  would  starve  to  death. 

The  advocates  of  a  high  proteid  intake  believe  that 
it  is  well  to  take  more  than  necessary  —  more  than  the 
system  requires  for  building  and  repair  —  so  as  to  have 
a  reserve  on  hand  in  case  a  sickness  should  come  re- 
quiring a  reserve.  The  truth  is,  if  there  is  a  reserve, 
a  time  will  come  when  it  will  have  to  be  got  rid  of  — 
sickness  will  come  because  of  it,  not  from  lack  of  it." 

(TiLDEN). 


Meat  is  a  strong  and  stimulating  food.  It  requires 
a  large  supply  of  oxygen  to  assimilate  it.  One  with  a 
large  chest  expansion,  or  one  who  works  out  of  doors, 
can  handle  more  meat  than  others  and  also  maintain 
health.  Meat  should  be  thoroughly  chewed  as  should 
all  foods,  but  if  the  fiber  is  fairly  well  broken  it  is 
not  so  serious  if  it  is  swallowed  quickly  as  it  is  if 
starch  is  eaten  without  thorough  mastication.  And 
the  proteins  that  do  not  have  fiber  like  meat  can  be 
eaten  with  more  rapidity  than  can  meat.  An  egg  may 
be  eaten  for  a  hasty  lunch,  but  bread  or  rich  starchy 
foods,  never. 

Cold  meats,  canned  meats,  dried  or  cured  meats, 
and  fried  meats,  should  be  regarded  with  suspicion. 
Bacon  is  an  exception.  It  is  largely  fat,  and  the  curing 
process  to  which  it  is  subjected  makes  of  it  a  food 
which  when  taken  in  small  quantities  tends  to  prevent 
fermentation  in  the  stomach. 


90  Food  Fundamentals 

The  one  great  objection  to  meat  as  a  food  is  its 
tendency  to  putrefy.  This  is  serious.  If  one  does  not 
handle  meat  well  they  had  better  let  it  alone.  But  I 
find,  when  taken  properly,  it  can  be  digested  by  many 
who  have  serious  experiences  with  it  when  taken  in 
the  usual  manner. 

People  have  been  taught  that  it  is  extremely 
harmful  to  eat  much  meat,  but  they  have  not  been  told 
that  it  was  harmful  to  overload  on  eggs,  baked  beans, 
cheese,  or  nuts.  They  have  been  taught  to  believe 
they  are  "on  a  diet"  when  they  eat  no  meat.  "It  is  a 
physician's  business  to  understand,  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, all  foods,  not  as  a  faddist,  nor  as  a  fanatic,  but 
as  a  rational  being  able  to  render  the  greatest  good 
to  the  greatest  number."  (Tilden).  And  the  physi- 
cian should  give  his  clientele  the  right  view. 

Meat  is  best  digested  in  an  acid  medium,  and  it  is 
well  to  take  some  acid  food  with  it.  All  of  the  non- 
starchy  vegetables  combine  well  with  meat.  Those 
that  are  well  adapted  to  be  taken  raw,  can  be  eaten  in 
that  manner.  The  acid  fruits  may  be  combined  with 
meat,  and  these  may  either  be  taken  raw  or  cooked. 
The  difference  between  taking  fruits  raw  or  cooked 
is  explained  in  another  place.  The  "Tilden  Salad  is 
lettuce,  tomatoes,  and  cucumbers,  equal  parts,  with 
either  enough  garlic  to  give  the  desired  taste,  or  sweet 
onion.  In  the  spring  and  summer  the  green  onion 
with  its  top  may  be  used.    The  best  winter  salad  is 


Food  Fundamentals  91 

made  the  same  way,  except  the  Pascal  celery  is  sub- 
stituted for  the  cucumbers.  Dress  either  of  these  with 
salt,  olive  oil,  and  lemon  juice."    (Tilden). 

A  salad  of  this  nature  should  be  taken  with  every 
meat  meal.  I  find  many  variations  that  are  accept- 
able and  wholesome.  Turnips,  cabbage,  carrots  may 
be  chopped  fine  and  used  with  lettuce  and  lemon  juice. 
Either  one  of  these  may  be  used  with  lettuce  and  lemon 
juice.  To  any  such  combination  the  addition  of  raw 
apples  chopped  is  an  advantage.  Likewise,  other  fruit, 
as  oranges,  may  be  added.  I  don't  think  much  of  olive 
oil  dressing  on  this  salad  to  be  taken  with  meat,  but 
those  who  like  it  may  try  it.  Always  use  lemon  juice 
in  the  place  of  vinegar. 

If  meat  is  eaten  in  reasonable  quantity  with 
cooked  non-starchy  vegetables,  and  with  a  salad  of  the 
nature  just  given,  there  will  be  no  decomposition  of 
the  meat  unless  one  overeats  or  is  not  in  condition  to 
receive  such  food.  The  tendency  for  raw  vegetables  to 
prevent  fermentation,  the  greater  activity  of  the  dif- 
ferent chemical  elements  in  the  juices  of  raw  veg- 
etables, and  the  greater  ease  with  which  meat  is 
digested  in  the  presence  of  acid,  make  this  combination 
favorable  to  the  perfect  digestion  of  the  whole  meal. 
If  meat  is  taken  in  this  manner,  the  cry  against  its 
moderate  use  will  disappear. 

It  will  be  necessary  for  me  to  make  the  positive 
statement  that  starch  is  not  to  be  taken  at  the  meat 
meal.     It  is  so  generally  the  custom  to  eat  bread  or 


92  Food  Fundamentals 

potatoes  with  meat  and  with  every  meal  that  anything 
less  than  a  positive  statement  about  it  is  always  under- 
stood to  include  bread  and  potatoes. 

If  the  salad  cannot  be  had,  use  lemon  juice  on 
the  meat.  If  no  vegetables  can  be  obtained  use  fruit 
with  the  meat.  People  interested  in  their  health  and 
giving  it  some  thought  can  work  out  these  principles. 
Patients  of  mine  have  shown  that  it  is  quite  practical 
and  palatable  to  make  a  sandwich  out  of  a  large  apple 
and  ham,  using  the  apples  in  slices  as  bread.  In  the 
same  way  can  a  fruit  and  cheese  sandwich  be  made 
of  apple  and  pimento  cheese.  Apple  and  bacon  make 
a  tasty  sandwich.  The  turnip  can  be  used  instead  of 
the  apple.  There  is  no  end  to  suitable  delicacies  of  this 
kind  to  take  the  place  of  bread  and  meat.  School 
lunches  should  be  along  this  line,  if  school  lunches  are 
to  be  used.  Those  people  who  will  try  a  meal  of  any 
kind  of  meat  with  raw  apple  will  be  surprised  how 
tasteful  it  is.  This  is  particularly  true  of  a  nice  roast 
of  beef  and  raw  apple.  When  the  body  becomes  ad- 
justed to  this  style  of  eating,  they  will  find  it  most 
satisfying. 

The  worst  combination  that  can  be  made  with 
meat  is  sugar.  And  it  does  not  matter  whether  the 
sugar  is  taken  in  the  coffee,  on  the  fruit,  or  in  any 
manner,  if  it  is  taken  with  a  meat  meal  it  cannot  be 
a  good  combination.  But  this  does  not  mean  it  is  a 
fatal  mistake.  One  can  take  a  small  amount  of  sugar 
or  honey  on  fruit  or  other  food  whose  taste  demands 


Food  Fundamentals  93 

it,  and  that  when  taken  at  a  meat  meal.  But  who 
thinks  of  putting  sugar  on  their  meat  or  eggs  as  a 
dressing?  The  idea  is  almost  repulsive,  is  it  not? 
When  people  are  accustomed  to  looking  for  food  com- 
binations to  account  for  distress  or  sickness,  they  will 
doubtless  see  this  combination  is  entirely  wrong.  If 
in  doubt,  eat  a  meal  of  meat  and  plenty  of  sugar,  and 
see  what  results.  Digestion  will  be  delayed  in  the 
stomach,  and  decomposition  is  likely  to  take  place  be- 
fore the  meat  leaves  the  stomach.  The  rancid  grease, 
the  decomposing  meat,  the  fermenting  sugar,  all  hot 
and  nauseating,  affords  the  nervous  system  a  great 
task  and  abundant  irritation.  People  who  eat  this 
way  suffer  abundantly  with  headaches  and  tonsilitis. 


"Very  few  people  realize  what  digestion  means. 
It  means  the  disintegrating  of  food,  not  only  the  break- 
ing up  of  its  gross  particles,  tearing  the  fibers  apart 
and  bringing  it  into  a  state  of  pulp,  but  it  means  the 
chemical  disorganization  of  its  elements.  What  is  this 
disorganization  for?  For  the  purpose  of  bringing 
about  a  liquid  state  of  the  food.  This  liquid  is  known 
as  peptone.  It  must  be  capable  of  penetrating  mem- 
brane equal  to  water.  All  the  residue  and  material 
that  is  unfit  to  gain  the  circulation  is  excluded,  and  it 
is  fair  to  presume  that  a  given  quantity  of  peptone  pre- 
pared from  grass  will  be  similar  in  properties  to  the 
peptone  made  out  of  beef  that  has  been  evolved  from 
grass.  In  other  words,  grass  will  make  flesh,  and  the 
elements  in  the  grass  that  go  to  make  flesh  are  exactly 
similar  to  the  elements  found  in  the  flesh  after  it  is 
made  —  if  not,  why  not?  Beefsteak  never  enters  the 
circulation  as  beefsteak ;  it  enters  as  a  peptone,  and  that 
peptone  has  the  elements  that  were  gathered  by  the 


94  Food  Fundamentals 

animal  from  the  fields  by  eating  the  grass  and  digest- 
ing it.  These  things  being  true,  is  there  any  sense  or 
reason  to  this  great  hue  and  cry  against  meat? 

The  man  who  is  posted  on  the  actual  cause  of 
human  suffering  knows  that  man  can  eat  great  quan- 
tities of  meat  without  much  harm  if  the  meat  is  from 
healthy  animals,  but  when  he  puts  oatmeal  with  it,  or 
cakes  and  syrup,  then  he  is  drawing  close  to  digestive 
troubles. 

Meat  is  the  most  stimulating  of  all  foods.  It  is 
easy  of  digestion  —  it  reaches  the  nerve  centers  in  the 
shortest  time.  When  disease  or  injury  has  inhibited 
nutrition,  and  the  patient  is  low  from  pronounced  ener- 
vation, the  feeding  of  a  concentrated  meat  broth  may 
overstimulate  and  further  prostrate,  or  even  kill. 
Under  such  circumstances  a  small  amount  of  fruit  or 
vegetable  juice  will  be  kindly  received  and  prove  life- 
imparting —  I  mean  the  fresh  uncooked  juice. 

One  of  the  most  foolish  and  senseless  medical  cus- 
toms is  that  of  prescribing  white  meat,  because  it  is 
supposed  to  be  easier  of  digestion,  when  the  truth  is 
just  the  reverse.  The  prescribing  of  white  meat  is  a 
bad  habit,  the  same  as  thousands  of  other  medical 
habits  that  were  started  a  long  time  ago  by  medical 
men  who  are  now  dead,  and  whose  ideas  are  dead  and 
should  have  been  interred  with  their  bones. 

White  meat  is  possessed  of  little  real  nutritive 
value.  The  dark  meat  is  nutritive  in  keeping  with  the 
color — the  darker,  the  richer  in  food  value.  The  round 
steak  is  ten  to  twenty  per  cent  more  nutritious  than 
the  loin.  Those  who  think  they  are  unfortunate  in 
being  compelled  to  buy  the  cheap  cuts  of  meat  are  really 
getting  the  best  of  the  bargain. 

To  avoid  overeating,  meat  (fish,  fowl,  game,  nuts, 
or  any  butcher's  meat)  should  be  eaten  with  cooked 
non-starchy  vegetables  and  combination  salads  —  a 
large  dinner-plate-ful  of  salad.  About  two  ounces  of 
protein,  or  twelve  ounces  of  lean  meat,  is  supposed  to 
be  light  eating;  but  for  business  men,  four  ounces  of 
lean  meat  daily,  or  eight  ounces  every  other  day,  with 


Food  Fundamentals  95 

a  large  plate  of  salad,  and  all  desired  of  cooked  non- 
starchy  vegetables,  with  fruit  for  dessert,  makes  a 
simple  meal  and  one  that  will  satisfy  a  normal  man. 
The  normal  guide  for  eating  is  to  have  a  relish  for 
every  bite  taken.  The  food  must  be  desired  not  the 
dressing. 

The  fires  of  passion  that  are  lit  and  fed  by  ex- 
cessive eating  of  meat,  bread,  and  potatoes  may  burn 
out  in  an  acute  disease ;  a  typhoid  fever  may  call  a  halt, 
and  if  the  patient  does  not  die,  he  may  be  relieved  for 
months  afterward  —  depending,  of  course,  on  whether 
he  returns  immediately  to  his  excessive  eating. 

Those  who  labor  should  not  eat  meat  oftener  than 
once  a  day,  and  bread,  potatoes,  or  other  decidedly 
starchy  foods  once  or  twice  a  day.  Those  of  sedentary 
habits  should  not  eat  meat  oftener  than  once  every 
other  day,  or  moderately  every  day  when  the  temper- 
ature is  ten  above  zero  or  lower. 

Cooking  of  Meat. 

The  protein  of  meat  is  rendered  indigestible  by 
improper  cooking.  Beef  requires  more  care  in  cooking 
than  pork.  A  boiling  that  would  render  beef  hard, 
insipid,  and  difficult  to  digest,  if  not  indigestible,  would 
only  serve  to  make  pork  tender  and  appetizing.  A  fry- 
ing that  would  render  beefsteak  tough  and  tasteless 
would  render  pork  toothsome  and  tender. 

Roast  Beef.  —  Beef  is  at  its  best  roasted ;  but  to 
retain  all  the  flavor,  and  render  the  albuminoids  and 
gelatinoids  tender  and  easily  digestible,  it  should  be 
roasted  in  quantities.  A  small  roast  is  usually  too  dry. 
The  larger  the  roast,  the  better,  but  small  families  can- 
not indulge.  Paper-bag  roasting  is  said  to  be  satisfac- 
tory :  Place  the  meat  in  a  paper  bag,  and  roast  in  an 
oven  the  same  as  for  ordinary  roasting.  Roasting  in  a 
jacket  is  a  good  way  to  prevent  the  meat  from  drying 
out :  Make  a  batter  out  of  flour  and  water ;  the  batter 
should  be  stiff  enough  to  coat  the  meat  well.  After 
giving  the  prospective  roast  a  thorough  coating,  wrap 


96  Food  Fundamentals 

paper  around  it,  and  then  coat  the  outside  of  the  paper 
with  another  layer  of  the  batter.  Roast  the  regulation 
time,  counting  a  little  extra  on  account  of  the  jacket. 
Meat,  fish,  or  fowl  cooked  in  this  way  is  pleasing  to  all 
who  are  fond  of  meat.  All  meats  have  a  better  flavor 
when  cooked  in  a  jacket. 

Pot  Roasts This  style  of  cooking  is  well  suited 

for  small  families.  Put  the  roast  to  cook  in  a  small 
amount  of  cold  water,  and  allow  it  to  come  to  the  boil- 
ing point  very  slowly ;  then  turn  the  gas  down,  if  cook- 
ing with  gas;  or,  if  on  a  range,  place  the  vessel  on  a 
part  that  will  keep  the  contents  simmering.  Just 
enough  water  should  be  used  so  that  when  the  meat  is 
tender  it  will  all  be  evaporated;  then  place  the  vessel 
on  a  hot  part  of  the  stove  and  brown  the  meat  for  five 
or  ten  minutes.  If  by  mistake  too  much  water  has  been 
used,  the  meat  can  be  lifted  out,  put  in  a  baking-pan, 
and  placed  in  the  oven  for  browning.  The  fluid  from 
which  the  meat  was  taken  may  be  used  as  a  soup  or 
broth,  or  it  can  be  used  to  dress  cooked  vegetables  in 
place  of  butter  or  cream. 

Beefsteak.  —  The  larger  and  thicker  the  steaks  are, 
the  better.  Only  the  expert  can  cook  and  deliver  to  the 
epicure  a  perfect  steak.  Steaks  can  be  given  a  pan 
broil  that  will  be  tasty :  Prepare  the  steak  by  cutting 
off  the  fat ;  get  the  frying-pan  hot  —  very  hot ;  then 
put  the  meat  in  the  skillet  and  cover  at  once ;  in  thirty 
seconds  lift  the  cover  and  turn  the  meat,  and  then  in 
thirty  seconds  turn  again.  The  secret  of  making  a 
steak  taste  good,  cooked  in  this  way,  is  to  have  a  hot 
fire,  hot  pan,  and  a  cook  who  can  lift  the  cover  and 
turn  the  meat  in  the  quickest  possible  time.  Should 
butter  be  added  either  before  or  after  the  cooking? 
What  for?  Butter  adds  nothing  except  to  make  diges- 
tion more  difficult.  By  adding  butter  before  or  while 
cooking,  a  pan  broil  is  converted  into  a  fry. 

Clasping  in  a  wire  toaster  and  holding  close  to  a 
bed  of  hot  coals  is  a  very  nice  way  to  broil  meat.  If 
the  steak  is  quite  dry  cooked  in  this  way,  because  of  its 
thinness,  a  little  butter  should  be  added. 


Food  Fundamentals  97 

Round  Steak,  cooked  as  follows,  is  quite  palatable : 
Put  into  a  very  hot  frying-pan  and  thoroughly  sear; 
then  allow  it  to  stew  by  adding  a  small  amount  of  cold 
water.  The  cooking,  until  the  meat  is  tender,  should 
be  by  a  simmering  heat  rather  than  hard  boiling.  When 
tender,  take  up  on  a  hot  plate,  cover,  and  place  in 
warming  oven.  There  should  be  only  a  small  amount 
of  fluid  in  the  pan  when  the  meat  is  taken  out.  This 
can  be  disposed  of  in  various  ways.  Some  people  add 
a  little  flour  and  make  a  gravy  to  serve  with  the  meat, 
but  I  do  not  recommend  this.  Tomatoes  may  be  cooked 
in  this  fluid,  or  onions  already  stewed,  may  be  added; 
serve  on  the  meat.  If  carefully  manipulated,  the  fluid 
can  be  gauged  so  as  to  be  cooked  away  by  the  time  the 
meat  is  tender ;  then,  if  desired,  the  surface  of  the  meat 
may  be  browned  the  second  time. 

The  toughest  meat  can  be  cooked  very  tender,  and 
quickly,  in  a  steam  cooker  that  cooks  under  steam  pres- 
sure. These  cookers  are  especially  to  be  recommended 
for  cooking  old  or  tough  fowl  and  game. 

Meat  should  be  cooked  well  and  in  any  style  de- 
sired. Steamed  meat  is  easy  of  digestion.  It  should 
be  cooked  without  seasoning,  and,  when  served,  the  less 
salt  used  the  better.  Broiled  meat  is  appetizing,  but 
not  so  good  for  those  with  very  delicate  digestion. 
Stewed  meat  is  easy  of  digestion.  Potroasts  are  espe- 
cially fine  when  cooked  with  little  water  and  well 
browned. 

Pork.  —  Pork  is  related  to  other  meats  as  anthra- 
cite is  related  to  other  kinds  of  coal.    It  is  a  heat-pro- 
ducer par  excellence,  besides  furnishing  proteid  for 
tissue-building.  It  is  an  excellent  food  for  cold  weather, 
^^  for  the  human  organism  requires  four  times  as  much 
^m  food  for  producing  heat  as  for  making  muscles  —  that 
^1  is,  four  times  as  much  fat,  sugar,  and  starch  as  albu- 
^M  men,  fibrin,  gluten  and  casein.     Pork  contains,  in  one 
I^B  pound  of  its  fat,  the  equivalent  of  two  and  a  half  pounds 
^^B  of  sugar  or  starch;  hence,  less  than  half  as  much  of 


98  Food  Fundamentals 

This  being  true,  it  can  be  seen  that  it  is  much  easier  to 
overeat  on  meat  than  on  other  foods.  More  animal 
food  is  required  in  winter  than  in  summer.  In  cold 
countries  fat  is  provided  as  a  heat-producer,  while  in 
hot  countries  sugar  and  starch  are  the  heat-producers. 

Because  of  the  excess  of  fat,  and  the  smaller  per- 
centage of  albuminoid  or  tissue-forming  food,  found 
in  pork,  there  has  sprung  up  the  habit  of  eating  beans 
with  pork.  The  field  bean  contains  about  twenty-four 
per  cent  of  muscle  maker,  while  in  a  hundred  pounds 
of  pork  there  is  only  ten  per  cent  of  muscle-making 
food.  For  sedentary  people  —  those  who  are  confined 
to  the  house,  office,  or  indoor  work,  and  are  deprived 
of  exercise  in  the  open  air  and  sunshine  —  pork,  or 
pork  and  beans,  is  too  hearty.  Because  of  the  stupe- 
fying and  nerve-exhausting  effects  of  this  diet  on  seden- 
tary people,  many  condemn  the  eating  of  pork  and 
would  have  it  banished  as  a  food.  Many  of  these  anti- 
pork  eaters  suffer  the  same  stupefying  influence  from 
beans  cooked  with  olive  oil  and  doughnuts  fried  in  veg- 
etable oil.  Few  know  what  good  cooking  is.  And 
many  imagine  that  the  harm  comes  from  pork-fat. 
But  the  truth  is  that  bad  cooking,  wrong  combinations, 
and,  neither  last  nor  least,  the  universal  habit  of  over- 
eating, bring  discredit  on  such  valuable  and  staple  food 
as  pork. 

Pork  is  injurious  when  eaten  by  those  who  have 
not  the  digestive  power  to  take  care  of  it.  Much 
depends  on  how  it  is  cooked.  Fried  pork  is  not  better 
nor  worse  than  any  other  fried  food.  The  harm  comes 
in  ill  preparation  —  spoiled  in  cooking  —  and  in  over- 
eating and  bad  combinations.  If  a  family  is  not  pre- 
pared to  cook  properly,  and  frying  is  necessary,  or  fry- 
ing is  desired,  then  manipulate  the  cooking  in  the  best 
way  possible  for  the  conveniences  at  hand. 

Stewed  Pork.  —  Pork  ribs,  or  backbones  stewed 
tender,  are  a  food  that  most  people  like.  This  meat, 
cooked  in  a  steam  cooker,  is  made  very  tender,  tasty, 


Food  Fundamentals  99 

and  wholesome.  The  cooking  should  be  prolonged 
until  the  meat  has  reached  a  state  of  tenderness  that 
will  allow  the  bones  to  drop  out. 

Roast  Pork.  —  Roast  pork  can  be  cooked  in  the 
usual  way,  or  it  may  be  cooked  in  a  paper  sack  or  a 
batter  jacket. 

To  broil  any  meat,  have  a  broiling  pan  hot  —  hot 
enough  to  sear ;  then  place  the  meat  in  the  pan,  which, 
if  hot  enough,  will  turn  the  meat  white  at  once.  The 
meat  should  be  turned  almost  instantly.  Turn  it  from 
side  to  side  three  or  four  times,  and  at  the  same  time, 
if  cooking  with  gas,  extinguish  the  flame  long  enough 
for  the  pan  to  cool  down  to  a  heat  that  will  cook,  but 
not  sear;  then  relight  the  gas;  if  cooking  on  a  coal 
range,  move  the  pan  to  a  cool  part  of  the  stove  and 
keep  the  meat  simmering,  so  to  speak;  finish  cooking 
with  enough  heat  to  cook  the  inside  of  the  meat  with- 
out hardening  the  albumen.  In  broiling,  the  object  is 
to  sacrifice  the  outside  of  the  meat  —  harden  the  albu- 
men of  the  surface  of  the  meat  —  but  keep  the  inside 
soft  and  juicy. 

When  meat  is  properly  broiled  it  swells,  and,  on 
cutting,  the  liquid  flows  readily ;  but  if  cooked  too  much 
or  too  rapidly,  with  too  much  heat,  the  albumen  coag- 
ulates, and  the  meat  will  be  hard  and  tough ;  even  veal, 
lamb,  and  young  chicken  will  be  disappointingly  hard 
and  dry.  All  broiling  meats  should  be  cut  at  least  one 
inch  thick ;  the  thicker  the  better  —  even  two  and  three 
inches ;  but  to  cook  meat  so  thick  requires  a  proper  fire 
and  an  expert  cook. 

Chicken  is  one  of  the  most  digestible  of  meats  when 
properly  served.  On  account  of  the  selfish  commercial- 
ized spirit  of  this  age,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  avoid 
being  poisoned  one  or  more  times  every  year  by  unfit 
poultry.  When  poultry  is  bought  alive  in  the  open 
market,  there  is  no  way  of  knowing  whether  or  not  it 
has  served  a  life  sentence  in  some  poultry  penitentiary ; 
neither  is  there  any  way  of  knowing,  if  dead,  how  long 
it  has  been  confined  in  purgatory  before  it  has  been 


too  Food  Fundamentals 

brought  out  as  a  candidate  for  benevolent  assimilation 
—  before  its  human  or  other  reincarnation. 

If  beeves,  hogs,  and  sheep  were  dressed  as  poultry 
is  dressed,  or  not  dressed  —  namely,  placed  in  cold 
storage  with  entrails  intact  —  there  would  be  so  much 
poisoning  that  all  people  would  turn  against  eating 
meat. 

Poultry  is  kept  for  weeks,  months,  even  years,  in 
cold  storage  with  entrails  undisturbed ;  and  we  are  told 
by  poultry  butchers,  indorsed  by  the  pure  food  laws, 
that  this  style  of  dressing  is  correct.  If  it  is,  why  not 
prepare  all  carcasses  in  the  same  way  ? 

The  people  should  boycott  the  trade ;  refuse  to  buy 
undrawn  fowls;  refuse  to  buy  cold-storage  fowls  that 
have  been  dressed  in  this  way,  even  if  the  butcher  offers 
to  draw  the  fowl  before  delivering  it  to  the  house.  Tur- 
keys are  not  different  from  chickens;  neither  are  fish. 

If  even  doctors  knew  how  many  people  are  stricken 
down  with  disease  every  year  from  ptomaine  poisoning 
coming  from  this  source,  the  protest  against  the  prac- 
tice would  be  so  strong  that  it  would  soon  end.  Besides 
sickness,  there  must  be,  every  year,  many  deaths. 

The  canning  of  poultry  has  become  so  extensive 
that  those  who  are  wise  will  not  order  chicken,  turkey, 
veal  cutlets,  and  many  other  articles  of  food  at  restau- 
rants or  on  dining-cars.  There  is  not  much  choice  be- 
tween cold-storage  and  canned  fowl.  It  is  filthy  eating, 
and  those  who  indulge  are  flirting  with  sickness  and 
death.  So  far  as  protecting  the  people  in  this  matter 
is  concerned,  the  pure-food  laws  protect  this  vile,  death- 
producing  industry.  Just  why,  is  beyond  finding  out ; 
possibly  there  is  too  much  money  invested  in  the  dam- 
nable practice.  Money  is  king,  and  the  so-called  ser- 
vants of  the  people  fall  down  and  worship  this  king, 
and  forget  their  sworn  duty  to  those  whom  they  pre- 
tend to  serve. 

Eggs. 
Eggs,  like  milk,  form  a  complete  food ;  that  is  they 
contain  more  or  less  of  each  of  the  fundamental  food 
elements  necessary  to  build  the  body  and  repair  waste. 


Food  Fundamentals  101 

Eggs  and  milk  are  the  only  complete  food  products 
found  in  the  animal  kingdom. 

"Egg  albumen  is  said  to  consist  of  a  mixture  of 
different  proteids,  indicating  that  the  egg,  from  a  chem- 
ical standpoint,  is  a  highly  complex  substance;  and, 
like  all  complex  foods,  it  is  very  unstable;  it  takes  on 
change  very  easily  —  decomposes  in  the  stomach  and 
bowels  readily.  The  yolk  is  fully  as  complex  as  the 
white ;  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  egg  is  not  so  innocent 
a  food  as  many  suppose.  It  is  generally  recognized  as 
being  easy  of  digestion;  and  I  presume,  in  those  who 
have  perfect  health  and  digestion,  this  is  true ;  but  the 
observing  physician  will  find  many  people  who  are 
made  from  slightly  uncomfortable  to  miserable  by  its 
use.  This  is  especially  true  of  those  who  have  slow 
digestion ;  for  they  experience  discomfort  from  the  use 
of  eggs  cooked  in  any  form. 

Eggs  are  especially  bad  for  those  who  have  ulcer- 
ation or  dilation  of  the  stomach.  People  with  delicate 
digestion  should  not  eat  any  except  fresh  eggs  —  eggs 
not  more  than  one  day  old.  Indeed,  this  rule  should  be 
followed  out  on  all  foods ;  for  stale  fruit  and  vegetables, 
when  eaten,  are  very  much  inclined  to  cause  fermen- 
tation. A  lack  of  care  in  this  matter  is  often  the  cause 
of  continued  ill-health. 

The  white  of  the  egg  is  pure  albumen,  and  consists 
of  a  solution  of  proteid  shut  up  in  the  interior  of  mil- 
lions of  cells.  All  animal  bodies  are  made  up  of  cells, 
and  the  egg  is  an  undeveloped  chick.  These  cell-walls 
are  broken  when  the  egg  is  beaten,  and  this  allows  the 
proteid  to  escape.  It  appears  more  reasonable  to  as- 
sume that  a  soft-boiled  egg  is  made  easier  of  digestion 
than  a  raw  egg  because  the  heat  causes  a  bursting  of 
the  capsules  of  the  cells,  allowing  the  contents  to  be 
acted  upon  by  the  gastric  secretions  at  once.  If  this 
be  true,  then  raw  eggs  should  be  thoroughly  beaten 
before  being  eaten;  and,  when  there  are  no  counter- 
manding objections,  a  little  lemon  juice  may  be  added 
to  cover  the  raw  taste  and  aid  digestion  by  furnishing 
acid. 


^m    to  co\ 
^K     acid. 


102  Food  Fundamentals 

Raw  eggs  are  recommended  in  combination  with 
milk,  broths,  or  coffee.  In  diseases  accompanied  by 
loss  of  flesh  and  strength,  large  quantities  of  raw  eggs 
—  as  many  as  twenty-four  —  are  recommended  in 
twenty-four  hours.  Patients  who  can  take  care  of  such 
quantities  of  eggs,  or  a  like  proportion  of  other  foods, 
are  not  in  a  very  sick  state.  Those  who  are  seriously  ill 
will  grow  worse  and  die  under  such  dieting!  Stuffing 
is  a  better  term  for  such  feeding. 

Some  of  the  best  authors  on  dietetics  recommend 
the  mixing  of  sherry  or  other  wines  or  alcoholics  with 
raw  eggs  for  the  sick.  The  class  of  patients  I  see  would 
be  made  worse  by  such  treatment,  and  it  is  doubtful 
if  people  in  health  would  stay  well  long  if  given  such 
diet.  Alcoholics  of  all  kinds  have  a  detrimental  effect 
on  the  stomach,  either  in  health  or  disease.  Not  any- 
thing in  the  drink  line  is  more  disease-producing  than 
egg-nog. 

Hard-boiled  eggs,  finely  chopped  or  ground,  can 
be  digested  in  a  normal  stomach  as  quickly  as  soft- 
boiled  eggs.  Much,  however,  depends  on  the  cooking. 
The  term  "hard-boiled  eggs"  is  bad,  as  long  as  it  means 
that  eggs  are  to  be  boiled.  Albumen  —  either  in  meat, 
eggs,  or  vegetables  —  should  not  be  boiled.  Eggs  being 
albumen,  they  should  not  be  cooked  in  boiling  water. 
Eggs  are  best  cooked  in  the  shell,  as  follows : 

Soft-Cooked  Eggs Place  eggs  in  boiling  water, 

remove  from  the  fire,  and  allow  them  to  stand  for  eight 
to  ten  minutes.  If  the  eggs  are  very  cold,  they  should 
be  left  in  the  water  from  two  to  four  minutes  longer. 
To  cook  eggs  hard,  place  in  cold  water,  and  allow  the 
water  to  come  to  the  boiling-point;  then  place  on  back 
of  stove  for  twenty  minutes.    Don't  boil. 

Steamed  Eggs Break  an  egg  in  a  sauce-plate, 

previously  heated  and  buttered  enough  to  keep  the  egg 
from  sticking  to  the  plate;  place  in  steamer  over  boiling 
water,  and  cook  until  white  is  firm.    Salt  and  butter 


KOHTjfiliK  ,r.    SKA  inisvRr. 


Food  Fundamentals  103 

Scrambled  Eggs.  —  One  tablespoonful  of  milk,  half 
cream,  to  each  egg ;  beat  thoroughly  and  put  in  a  but- 
tered pan;  then  place  this  pan  in  another  containing 
near-boiling  water,  and  stir  until  the  eggs  are  cooked 
to  the  desired  consistency ;  then  salt  to  taste.  A  double 
boiler  is  convenient  for  cooking  scrambled  eggs.  Have 
the  water  hot,  but  not  boiling.  To  boil  eggs  hardens 
the  albumen  and  causes  them  to  be  indigestible. 

Eggs  Poached  in  Milk.  —  Melt  butter,  a  half  of  an 
inch  cube,  in  half  a  teacup  of  hot,  rich  milk,  in  a  double 
boiler,  put  in  two  to  four  eggs,  and  cook  carefully,  not 
allowing  the  water  to  boil  in  the  boiler.  Salt  and  pep- 
per to  taste."  (Tilden). 

NON-STARCHY  VEGETABLES. 
The  expression,  "non-starchy  vegetables,"  is  a 
happy  term  applied  by  Dr.  J.  H.  Tilden  to  designate 
the  vegetables  usually  spoken  of  as  the  green,  succulent, 
or  juicy  vegetables.  They  might  well  be  termed  fiber 
vegetables.  Non-starchy  vegetables  is  a  good  term  to 
contrast  with  "decidedly  starchy  foods."  All  these  so- 
called  non-starchy  vegetables  contain  starch,  but  it  is 
milk  starch  and  is  easier  digested  than  granular  starch. 
Milk  starch  is  in  the  stage  of  development  in  which 
the  capsule  is  not  firm  and  completely  formed;  gran- 
ular starch  is  matured  starch  —  it  has  a  matured 
starch-cell,  -wall,  or  -capsule.  Green  beans  or  peas  have 
starch  in  the  milk  or  immature  form  but  when  the 
beans  or  peas  are  ripened  the  milk  starch  has  become 
granular  starch,  the  cell  walls  having  matured  and 
hardened.  Green  peas  or  beans  are  classified  as  non- 
starchy  vegetables  and  ripened  beans  or  peas  as  the 
decidedly  starchy  food. 


104  Food  Fundamentals 

The  non-starchy  vegetables  have  a  very  impor- 
tant place  in  any  dietary.  They  supply  a  quantity  of 
the  purest  water  obtainable.  They  supply  chemicals 
much  needed  for  health.  They  supply  tissue  salts  that 
can  be  obtained  in  no  other  way  and  which  are  abso- 
lutely necessary.  This  pure  water  and  these  pure  salts 
play  no  little  part  in  the  chemical  action  that  takes 
place  in  digestion  and  especially  in  assimilation.  Some 
of  the  tissue  salts  supplied  by  this  class  of  vegetables 
are:  sodium,  potassium,  calcium,  magnesium,  iron, 
phosphorus,  and  chlorine. 

Of  all  the  tissue  salts  in  spinach  sixteen  per  cent 
are  potash,  thirty-five  soda,  eleven  lime,  six  magnesia, 
three  iron,  ten  phosphorus,  six  sulphur,  four  silicic 
acid,  and  six  chlorine,  with  fractional  parts  of  each  not 
counted.  Cauliflower  is  rich  in  potash  and  phosphorus. 
Cabbage  is  rich  in  potash,  soda,  lime  and  sulphur. 
Dandelion  is  rich  in  potash,  soda,  and  lime.  Asparagus 
is  rich  in  potash,  soda,  and  phosphorus.  Cucumbers 
rich  in  potash,  soda,  and  phosphorus.  Lettuce  con- 
tains forty-six  per  cent  potash,  nine  of  soda,  six  of 
lime,  eight  of  phosphorus,  three  of  sulphur,  twenty  of 
silicic  acid,  and  five  of  chlorine,  the  total  of  these  salts 
being  less  than  one  per  cent  of  all  the  elements  it  con- 
tains. The  whole  list  of  them  are  valuable  because 
of  the  chemical  contents.  The  scientists  are  now  em- 
phasizing what  they  please  to  call  vitamins.  These 
vegetables  contain  them.  Vitamins  have  no  impor- 
tance as  isolated  substances.    As  a  part  of  the  vege- 


Food  Fundamentals  105 

table  or  food  they  are  just  as  important  as  the  pure 
water  or  mineral  salts  or  other  substances  and  no 
more  so.  When  an  element  of  any  article  of  diet  is 
individualized  and  studied  as  a  drug,  the  wrong  view- 
point has  been  taken.  It  is  this  kind  of  study  of  iron 
in  fruit  and  in  the  blood  that  has  lead  to  wrong  con- 
clusions about  it. 

The  non-starchy  vegetables  are  an  important 
group  of  foods  that  will  assist  in  keeping  the  blood 
alkaline  and  pure.  The  alkalinity  of  the  blood  insures 
against  disease.  The  chemical  balance  of  the  body  is 
kept  by  a  proper  use  of  non-starchy  vegetables  and 
fruit.  It  is  well  to  make  much  of  the  bulk  of  a  meal 
of  them  for  they  are  more  easily  digested  than  the 
rich  starchy  foods  or  the  rich  protein  foods.  They 
afford  bulk  and  are  useful  in  preventing  constipation. 
But  the  idea  of  bulk  preventing  constipation  is  over- 
worked. The  juices  supplied  by  these  vegetables  pro- 
mote intestinal  peristalsis  and  may  be  looked  upon  as 
useful  in  preventing  constipation.  But  in  the  presence 
of  indigestion  the  juices  or  bulk  count  for  nothing  in 
preventing  constipation.  The  thing  most  needed  to 
prevent  constipation  is  to  keep  the  quantity  of  food 
down  to  the  ability  of  the  body  to  properly  handle  it. 
If  the  intestines  have  become  too  large  and  long  from 
continued  engorgement  and  overdistention,  they  will 
shrink  and  become  smaller,  if  the  proper  amount  is 


106  Food  Fundamentals 

ingested.  But  this  requires  time  and  the  lessened  dis- 
tention will  result  in  some  distress  while  the  change 
is  going  on. 

Turnips,  carrots,  cauliflower,  beets,  cabbage,  brus- 
sels  sprouts,  onions,  summer  squash,  parsnips,  spinach, 
lettuce,  cucumbers,  green  peas,  string  beans,  celery, 
asparagus,  mushrooms,  green  corn,  fresh  or  canned, 
salsify,  endive,  egg-plant,  dandelion,  and  all  kinds  of 
greens,  are  the  non-starchy  vegetables  in  common  use. 

Many  of  these  vegetables  should  be  eaten  raw. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  cooking  detracts  from  the  value 
of  those  that  can  be  eaten  raw.  After  cooking  the 
juices  are  less  stable  and  less  active.  The  juices  of 
raw  vegetables  like  the  juices  of  raw  fruits  have  a 
tendency  to  prevent  fermentation.  This  is  because 
they  are  stable  and  also  because  they  are  very  useful 
in  the  chemical  action  that  accompanies  digestion.  I 
do  not  believe  raw  vegetables  are  constipating.  They 
may  require  a  little  more  work  for  complete  digestion 
than  cooked  ones,  but  if  the  total  of  the  work  required 
of  the  digestive  apparatus  is  not  too  much,  constipa- 
tion will  not  result. 

"Because  both  meat  and  wheat  contain  the  four- 
teen principal  elements  of  the  human  body,  the  idea 
that  to  eat  freely  of  either  or  both  will  supply  the  body 
with  all  the  food  needed,  and  that  other  foods  are  not 
necessary,  is  quite  general.  The  continuation  of  this 
reasoning  excludes  fruit  and  raw  vegetables ;  for  why 
take  up  valuable  stomach  space  by  eating  cattle  food 
(salad)  and  fruit?  The  majority  of  human  beings  be- 
lieve themselves  to  be  fasting  when  eating  fruit  and 


Food  Fundamentals  107 

salad.  From  this  point  of  reasoning  it  is  easy  to  come 
to  the  conclusion  that,  inasmuch  as  there  is  nothing  to 
be  gained  by  the  eating  of  fruit  (it  being  an  expensive 
luxury,  and  raw  vegetables  being  an  expensive  cow 
food),  then,  for  economical  reasons,  if  for  no  other, 
they  should  be  left  out  of  the  dietary.  Consequently,  a 
habit  is  formed  of  eating  too  much  meat,  bread,  pota- 
toes, beans,  and  peas ;  if  a  change  is  desired,  pudding, 
pie,  and  rich  dressings  are  added;  resulting  in  a  dis- 
ease-producing style  of  eating,  and  a  world  of  sickness, 
as  we  see  it  all  over  the  country. 

An  ignorant  and  slouchy  manner  of  cooking  vege- 
tables marks  the  prevailing  style.  It  means,  put  the 
vegetables  in  a  large  quantity  of  salt  water,  and  when 
cooked  drain  off  the  water;  then  season  and  serve,  or 
cook  again  after  draining.  These  vegetables  often  fur- 
nish cooks  an  excuse  for  making  a  rich  dressing.  The 
amount  of  cream,  butter,  and  flour  or  cornstarch  used 
by  people  on  these  vegetables  is  so  great  that  there  can 
be  no  good  reason  for  looking  about  for  any  other  cause 
for  their  sickness.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  the 
vegetables  are  only  an  excuse  for  eating  an  impossible 
amount  of  rich  dressing.  I  frequently  tell  people  that 
they  should  fast  until  they  are  possessed  of  a  hunger 
that  will  cause  them  to  eat  with  a  relish  all  foods,  with- 
out a  dressing.  People  who  will  not  do  this  need  not 
anticipate  living  out  their  life  expectancy  —  the  num- 
ber of  years  possible  for  them.  Disease  and  premature 
death  are  the  prices  paid  for  bribing  the  palate  into 
passing  food  into  an  overworked  digestive  organ. 

Vegetables  should  be  cooked  in  as  little  water  as 
possible,  and  positively  no  salt  or  seasoning  of  any  kind 
should  be  added  until  served;  then  those  who  eat  may 
season  to  please  their  tastes.  Use  as  little  water  as 
possible  and  cook  in  vessels  with  close-fitting  covers, 
and  cook  until  they  are  as  tender  as  it  is  possible  to 
cook  them ;  then,  when  served,  dress  with  salt,  butter, 
or  cream.  The  more  thorough  the  cooking,  the  less 
tendency  there  will  be  to  constipate  the  bowels.  Half- 
cooked  and  raw  vegetables  are  constipating.     When 


108  Food  Fundamentals 

cooked  properly,  the  water  will  be  well  cooked  away, 
and  if  there  is  a  small  amount  left,  it  should  be  a  rich 
syrup  from  the  sugar  in  the  vegetables.  If  desired,  a 
reasonable  amount  of  butter  may  be  added,  and  the 
vegetables  placed  in  a  hot  oven  for  ten  minutes ;  then 
remove  to  a  warming-oven  until  ready  to  serve.  The 
less  salt  used  the  better.  If  the  vegetables  are  not 
prime,  soak  them  before  they  are  dressed  for  cooking ; 
and  if  they  lack  sweetness,  a  little  sugar  may  be 
added;  this,  however,  will  not  often  be  necessary,  if 
the  vegetables  are  cooked  right  and  not  water-logged. 
Turnips  and  carrots,  turnips  and  parsnips,  onions 
and  spinach,  cabbage  and  endive,  are  a  few  vegetables 
that  may  be  cooked  together  to  advantage."   (Tilden.) 

VEGETABLE  SOUP  (Modified  from  Tilden). 
Take  equal  parts  of  four  or  five  of  the  following 
vegetables:  potatoes,  turnips,  carrots,  cabbage,  celery, 
spinach,  onions,  green  peas,  green  beans,  green  com. 
Grind  these  fine  and  put  to  cook  with  enough  water 
to  keep  them  from  burning,  and  when  tender,  add 
boiling  water  or  hot  milk  to  make  soup.  Those  who 
are  sickly  should  use  the  water  instead  of  the  milk. 
Season  with  salt  and  butter,  or  salt  and  cream.  To- 
matoes may  be  used  when  the  soup  is  to  be  used  as  a 
part  of  a  meat  meal,  and  provided  the  potatoes  be 
left  out. 

VEGETABLE  SALADS  (Modified  from  Tilden). 
1.     Lettuce,    celery,    and    onion,    seasoned    with 
lemon  juice  and  salt,  or  with  lemon  juice  alone.    Olive 
oil  may  be  added  to  this  or  any  of  the  following  by 
those  who  like  it. 


Food  Fundamentals  109 

2.  Lettuce,  celery  and  fresh  tomatoes  sliced  or 
cut  up.  This  to  be  seasoned  like  number  1.  Never  use 
vinegar  as  a  seasoning  or  salad  dressing. 

3.  Add  cucumbers  to  either  of  the  above.  Cucum- 
bers must  be  crisp  and  fresh. 

4.  During  the  fruit  season  fresh  berries  or  grapes 
may  be  added  to  either  of  the  above;  or  fresh  apples 
may  be  cut  up  and  added ;  or  oranges.  In  the  winter 
season  California  grapes  may  be  added.  Also  canned 
tomatoes  may  be  used  in  the  winter  season  where  fresh 
ones  are  used  in  the  summer. 

5.  Slaw  dressed  with  lemon  juice  may  be  sub- 
stituted for  the  salad.  Cabbage  may  be  added  to  either 
of  the  above.  A  fruit  salad  may  be  used  instead  of  a 
vegetable  salad  for  a  protein  meal. 

A  dressing  of  lemon  juice  and  sweet  milk  may  be 
used  on  any  salad  that  is  to  be  a  part  of  a  protein  meal. 

Where  tomatoes  or  fruits  or  lemon  juice  is  used 
in  a  salad  it  may  accompany  a  meat  or  protein  meal, 
but  not  a  starch  meal. 

Raw  vegetables  may  be  used  in  combination  with 
a  starch  meal  by  leaving  out  the  acid  dressing  and 
tomatoes.  The  vegetables  may  be  seasoned  with  salt, 
salt  and  sweet  milk,  or  with  the  juice  of  some  cooked 
vegetable. 

Those  who  desire  to  follow  my  directions  should 
classify  tomatoes  as  a  fruit,  then  it  will  not  give  them 
trouble.  The  non-starchy  vegetables  may  form  the 
large  part  of  every  meal  of  the  rich  starches  or  the 


110  Food  Fundamentals 

rich  protein  foods.  They  may  be  used  raw  or  cooked 
with  either  the  starch  or  the  protein.  Some  raw  veg- 
etables should  be  eaten  daily  by  those  who  would  main- 
tain their  health.  This  should  be  true  with  every  in- 
dividual as  a  daily  custom,  and  should  be  abandoned 
only  when  temporary  illness  or  circumstances  make 
it  compulsory.  The  same  thing  is  true  about  the  cooked 
vegetables.  Such  a  habit  will  in  a  large  measure  in- 
sure against  overeating  and  constipation. 

Some  of  these  vegetables  contain  a  volatile  oil 
which  is  extracted  by  the  process  of  cooking,  and  when 
the  vessel  is  covered  this  oil  becomes  concentrated  and 
escapes  with  the  steam  penetrating  the  house  with  a 
strong  odor.  Leaving  the  vessel  open  will  permit  the 
odor  to  become  gradually  dissipated  and  not  notice- 
able. If  the  vessel  is  covered  the  vegetables  may  be 
darker  than  if  left  open  because  some  of  the  oil  or 
other  gases  are  redissolved.  These  are  not  good 
reasons  for  cooking  them  without  a  cover.  They  may 
look  better,  they  may  not  have  so  much  of  the  veg- 
etable taste  when  cooked  in  an  open  vessel,  but  a 
light  color  and  lack  of  taste  do  not  mean  better  veg- 
etables. The  taste  for  non-starchy  vegetables  should 
be  cultivated.  It  is  usually  impaired  by  overseasoning, 
and  the  kind  of  taste  that  the  seasoning  gives  is  ex- 
pected. When  the  taste  of  the  vegetable  becomes 
noticeable,  it  is  so  unusual  and  unexpected  that  it  is 
thought  undesirable  and  is  disliked. 


Food  Fundamentals  111 

The  vegetable  soup  should  be  eaten  without  the 
addition  of  starch  to  the  soup.  For  many  people  it 
means  a  great  sacrifice  to  eat  soup  without  crackers 
or  other  starch  in  it.  To  regain  and  maintain  health 
means  not  to  indulge  in  this  manner.  If  there  must 
be  something  besides  the  vegetable  pulp  to  chew,  then 
add  a  dish  of  slaw  to  the  bowl  of  soup.  Raw  cabbage 
will  afford  something  to  chew  on  while  the  soup  is 
sipped,  and  that  something  is  more  consistent  with 
health  than  starch  washed  down  with  the  soup.  When 
the  energy  that  is  now  being  expended  to  devise  fur- 
ther obnoxious  combinations  is  halted  and  turned  into 
seeking  suitable  ways  in  which  to  tastily  serve  plain 
dishes  of  food,  civilization  will  have  been  better  served. 

Fresh,  crisp  cucumbers  never  hurt  anybody  that 
was  in  fit  condition  to  receive  food.  A  lady  just  re- 
ported to  me  that  she  ate  cucumbers  last  evening  and 
suffered  terribly  from  them ;  that  she  never  ate  cucum- 
bers in  her  life  without  suffering  afterwards.  Her 
meal  last  evening  consisted  of  bread,  butter,  potatoes 
with  meat  gravy,  strawberries,  raw  cabbage  and 
cucumbers  with  vinegar  over  them.  She  did  not  eat 
any  of  the  meat  for  fear  it  might  harm  her.  Now  this 
woman  should  say  that  she  suffered  from  eating  bread, 
butter,  potatoes,  gravy,  strawberries,  cabbage,  cucum- 
bers and  vinegar,  all  at  one  meal.  There  is  no  con- 
sistency in  picking  out  any  one  of  these  articles  and 
blaming  it.  Had  she  eaten  the  meat  with  the  cabbage, 
cucumbers,  strawberries,  and  lemon  juice,  she  would 


112  Food  Fundamentals 

not  have  suffered  unless  she  was  in  no  condition  to 
receive  food.  Had  she  eaten  the  bread,  butter,  pota- 
toes, cucumbers  and  cabbage,  she  would  have  gotten 
along  without  distress.  "These  same  people  (stupid 
people)  will  eat  meat,  bread,  potatoes,  gravy,  pie,  and 
sliced  cucumber  in  vinegar,  and  wash  it  all  down  with 
a  pint  or  quart  of  buttermilk ;  then,  when  cholera  mor- 
bus shuts  them  up  like  a  jackknife,  declare  that  the 
cucumber  has  the  devil  in  it."     (Tilden). 

Cabbage  is  one  of  the  best  of  non-starchy  veg- 
etables. It  may  be  eaten  raw  or  cooked,  but  when 
cooked  it  should  be  done  according  to  the  directions 
for  cooking  non-starchy  vegetables  and  not  in  grease 
and  much  water  as  is  usually  done.  Cabbage  may  be 
eaten  fearlessly  if  other  sensible  ideas  of  living  and 
eating  are  followed.  Raw  cabbage  should  be  a  more 
favorite  dish.  It  goes  well  with  fruit  in  making  up  a 
fruit  meal.  It  may  be  used  in  connection  with  other 
raw  vegetables  nicely. 

Raw  onions  are  a  good  food  if  chewed  most  thor- 
oughly and  are  productive  of  much  harm  when  not 
chewed  to  a  liquid  form.  When  particles  of  onion 
enter  the  stomach  in  solid  form  they  decompose.  If 
the  onion  is  too  hot  to  chew  comfortably,  then  it  should 
not  be  eaten  until  baked  or  stewed.  It  does  not  matter 
how  young  and  fresh  the  onion  is  if  it  burns  the  mouth 
so  much  it  will  not  be  well  masticated,  then  it  is  not 
fit  to  eat  in  this  manner  and  should  be  cooked. 


Food  Fundamentals  113 

If  radishes  are  chewed  thoroughly  they  are  not  as 
harmful  as  is  usually  thought.  It  is  haste  and  careless- 
ness in  eating  the  radish  that  results  in  harm. 

The  summer  squash  is  classed  as  a  non-starchy 
vegetable,  while  a  Hubbard  squash  or  those  like  it 
should  be  used  as  a  rich  starchy  food. 

FRUIT. 

Fruit  is  a  food  which  supplies  the  body  with  very 
important  elements.  These  elements  have  an  impor- 
tant part  in  maintaining  the  chemical  equilibrium  of 
the  body.  Acid  fruits  are  supposed  to  be  laxatives. 
It  is  true  that  they  stimulate  intestinal  action.  But 
not  everything  that  stimulates  movements  of  the  in- 
testines should  be  looked  upon  as  a  laxative.  When 
fruit,  especially  the  acid  fruits,  are  taken  at  a  meal 
without  any  other  food  they  tax  the  digestive  appa- 
ratus but  very  little.  They  afford  abundant  liquid, 
stimulate  peristalsis  of  the  intestines,  and  give  the 
organs  a  rest.  The  rest  is  of  as  much  importance  in 
the  laxative  effect  as  anything  else. 

Fresh  acid  fruits  of  all  kinds  are  cooling  to  the 
blood  and  should  be  used  freely  in  the  summer  season, 
less  freely  during  the  mild  winter  weather,  and  not  at 
all  during  cold  weather.  The  delicate,  sensitive, 
mucous  membrane  lining  the  stomach  and  intestines 
of  some  people  become  irritated  by  fruit  very  acid  in 
character,  if  taken  often.  Grapefruit,  lemons,  cran- 
berries, some  plums,  rhubarb,  strawberries,  and  cher- 


114  Food  Fundamentals 

ries  are  fruits  of  this  character.  They  should  be  used 
wisely.  If  much  sugar  is  used  on  fruit,  much  harm 
necessarily  results ;  therefore,  any  fruit  or  preparation 
of  fruit  that  requires  much  sugar  should  be  abandoned 
by  those  who  would  be  healthful. 

Any  cooking  of  fruits  should  be  of  a  simple  nature 
and  without  the  addition  of  much  sugar,  and  with  no 
starchy  ingredients.  Fruit  preserves,  jellies  and  jams 
are  "palate  teasers"  of  a  harmful  character  which  lead 
to  overeating.  When  added  to  bread  the  combination 
will  insure  digestive  disturbances.  When  taken,  such 
preparations  should  be  eaten  as  a  part  of  a  fruit  meal. 
They  may  be  taken  with  milk  or  cream,  or  they  may 
be  used  as  sweetening  for  fruit,  either  raw  or  cooked, 
that  needs  sweetening  a  little. 

Fruit  should  be  used  as  a  meal  by  itself,  or 
combined  with  sweet  milk,  whole  or  skimmed,  clabber, 
buttermilk,  cream,  either  sour  or  sweet,  cottage  or 
cream  cheese.  The  recognized  teaching  is  against  the 
use  of  fruit  with  milk,  but  this  teaching  is  wrong.  Do 
not  permit  yourself  to  accept  teachings  that  are  not 
supported  by  facts.  Prove  for  yourself  that  fruit  and 
milk  may  be  eaten  without  any  harmful  results.  If 
you  take  one  bite  of  bread,  potato,  or  starch  of  any 
kind  with  a  fruit  meal,  then  the  combination  is  a  ques- 
tionable one  and  bad  results  may  follow.  As  men- 
tioned elsewhere,  fruit  may  be  taken  at  a  meat  or  pro- 
tein meal,  either  as  a  dessert  or  as  a  major  part  of 
the  meal.  ' 


Food  Fundamentals  115 

While  fruit  and  starch  are  not  to  be  recommended 
as  a  combination,  I  am  aware  that  they  do  not  kill  im- 
mediately if  so  taken.  In  truth  they  may  be  combined 
without  noticeable  harmful  results.  But  I  must  re- 
mind the  reader  that  many  of  the  harmful  results 
from  eating  are  not  so  very  noticeable  until  the  effects 
are  profound  and  far  advanced.  If  such  a  combination 
be  indulged  occasionally,  nothing  serious  will  come 
from  it,  but  if  continued,  bad  results  will  follow.  When 
fruit  and  starch  are  combined,  then  toasted  bread  or 
baked  potato,  or  whatever  starch  is  to  be  used  should 
accompany  such  mild  acid  fruit  as  sweet  apple,  mildly 
acid  apple,  figs,  dates,  raisins,  and  bananas. 

It  is  a  common  thing  for  physicians  to  give  people 
the  idea  that  the  acid  of  fruit  will  make  their  rheu- 
matism worse,  or  may  bring  on  rheumatism,  or  cause 
acid  stomach.  It  is  common  for  them  to  give  serious 
precautions  to  those  afflicted  with  neuritis  against  the 
taking  of  sour  fruit  juices.  This  information  is  passed 
from  house  to  house  until  it  is  a  general  impression 
that  fruit  juices  are  harmful  in  many  conditions,  espe- 
cially rheumatism  and  neuritis. 

These  ideas  are  incorrect.  It  is  being  daily  proved 
that  one  of  the  best  classes  of  food  for  people  afflicted 
with  rheumatism  and  neuritis  is  fruit.  There  is  no 
reader  of  this  book  who  cannot  prove  it  for  himself, 
unless,  perchance,  he  is  an  individual  whose  condition 
is  such  that  he  cannot  eat  fruit  until  his  system  is  given 
an  opportunity  to  rid  itself  from  some  of  the  accumu- 


116  Food  Fundamentals 

lated  acids.  If  such  an  individual  fasts  or  goes  on  a 
vegetable  diet  for  a  short  time  he  can  eat  fruit  fear- 
lessly if  he  makes  up  his  combinations  properly.  When 
a  physician  tells  a  patient  with  acid  stomach  or  rheu- 
matism to  discontinue  the  use  of  fruit  and  to  use  soda 
or  magnesia  he  is  giving  bee-line  directions  to  the 
nearest  hospital.  Why  is  it  that  people  who  are 
afflicted  with  rheumatism  or  neuritis  never  get  rid  of 
these  troubles  when  they  stop  eating  fruit?  Why  is 
is  that  some  of  those  who  don't  eat  fruit  will  develop 
these  troubles  ? 

Most  people  eat  fruit  in  such  a  style  as  to  mag- 
nify their  troubles,  and  this  is  true  if  their  trouble  is 
rheumatism  or  something  else.  It  is  not  the  fruit  that 
does  it,  however,  but  it  is  the  whole  assembly  of  foods, 
the  guests  of  honor  being  starch  and  fruit.  It  is  the 
mixture,  not  the  fruit. 

Much  false  teaching  prevails  about  an  acid 
stomach.  There  is  nothing  that  will  make  an  acid 
condition  of  the  stomach  sooner  than  fruit  and  starch, 
unless  it  is  fruit,  sugar  and  starch.  But  why  blame 
the  fruit?  Leave  the  other  food  out  of  its  company 
and  the  acid  condition  of  the  stomach  does  not  arise. 

Any  kind  of  fruit  may  be  used.  The  advantages 
of  some  and  the  disadvantages  of  others  have  already 
been  mentioned.  The  fruits  of  the  season  are  always 
the  best,  if  there  is  nothing  else  to  make  them  objec- 
tionable.   All  kinds  of  melons  are  to  be  used  as  fruit. 


Food  Fundamentals  117 

If  very  much  melon  is  eaten  with  any  kind  of  food 
other  than  fruit  there  will  be  a  souring  of  the  food 
mass  and  indigestion.  It  does  not  require  so  much 
sugar  to  keep  canned  fruit  as  people  think.  Much  of 
it  will  keep  perfectly  if  it  has  but  very  little  or  no 
sugar  in  it.  If  a  tart  berry  is  taken  into  the  mouth 
and  crushed  it  will  taste  very  sour.  If  the  same  berry 
is  crushed  before  it  enters  the  mouth  it  will  not  taste 
so  sour,  and  if  it  is  diluted  a  little  with  cream  or  milk 
the  sour  taste  will  nearly  all  disappear.  These  facts 
may  be  applied  when  eating  a  tart  fruit  of  any  kind. 
Intelligently  applied  this  is  not  a  device  to  mislead  the 
taste  and  permit  the  taking  of  too  much  acid  as  it 
might  at  first  appear. 

"Fresh  fruits  of  all  kinds  are  cooling  foods ;  hence, 
the  reader  can  see  how  foolish  it  is  to  eat  much  fruit 
in  cold  weather,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  how  foolish 
it  is  to  eat  the  heating  foods  in  summer. 

Baked  apples,  raisins,  dates,  and  figs  may  be  eaten 
in  the  mild  weather  of  winter  by  people  who  are  below 
normal  in  vitality ;  those  in  full  health  can  eat  apples, 
grapes,  grape-fruit,  or  any  fresh  fruit  the  market 
affords,  for  luncheon,  but  nothing  else ;  and  if  there 
are  indications  of  any  disagreement,  it  may  be  under- 
stood that  too  much  starch  is  being  eaten  at  the  other 
meals,  and  the  amount  should  be  reduced. 

The  sweet  fruits  should  be  substituted  for  cane 
sugar  and  the  candy  made  from  it.  Raisins  are  the 
best  of  the  three  sweet  fruits  I  usually  recommend  for 
winter  use  —  namely :  raisins,  dates,  and  figs.  They 
should  be  picked  off  the  stem  and  washed  thoroughly 
with  hot  water,  and  then  put  in  a  colander  to  drain. 
This  process  softens  the  fruit  and  brings  out  the  flavor. 
For  children  who  can't  chew,  or  can't  be  induced  to 


118  Food  Fundamentals 

chew,  the  raisins  may  be  stewed,  and  rubbed  through 
a  fine  wire  sieve  to  remove  the  seeds.  Take  equal  parts 
of  raisins,  prepared  in  this  way,  with  freshly  made 
cottage  cheese;  add  cream,  and  mix.  This  mixture 
may  be  eaten  with  raw  fruits  —  apples,  California 
grapes,  or  winter  pears  —  and  followed  with  a  glass 
of  milk.  This  combination  makes  a  splendid  noonday 
meal  for  children  who  are  not  on  the  breast,  or  who 
are  bottle-fed. 

Steamed  apples  are  better  than  regularly  baked 
apples.  They  may  be  steamed  in  a  double  boiler,  plac- 
ing in  the  boiler  without  the  addition  of  water. 

Those  who  have  chronic  irritation  of  the  stomach 
should  select  sweet  apples,  or  those  that  are  very  mildly 
acid,  and  the  apples  should  be  peeled  and  cored  to 
avoid  the  mechanical  irritation  liable  to  be  produced 
by  these  parts ;  but  healthy  people  should  eat  the  whole 
apple,  for  every  part  of  the  apple  contains  important 
elements  for  body-building.  Cottage  cheese,  factory- 
made  cream  cheese,  clabber  or  buttermilk  —  in  fact, 
all  dairy  products  —  may  be  eaten  with  fruit  for  break- 
fast, or  for  any  other  meal  when  nothing  more  is  de- 
sired. 

Breakfast  foods  and  fruit  in  some  form,  or  fruit 
between  meals  following  or  preceding  starchy  meals, 
cause  much  sickness  every  year  among  children ;  indeed, 
eating  between  meals  and  eating  unsuitable  mixtures 
lay  the  foundation  on  which  atmospheric,  local,  and 
domestic  influences  build  endemics  and  epidemics. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  eat  any  kind  of  bread  with 
fruit,  although  it  is  done  by  nearly  everybody ;  but  we 
should  not  forget  that  there  is  a  world  of  sickness, 
and  there  must  be  a  reason  for  it.  Hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  doctors  and  healers  are  devoting  their  entire 
time  to  professionally  caring  for  the  sick ;  millions  of 
dollars  are  invested  in  institutions  for  the  care  of  the 
sick.  This  certainly  indicates  that  there  is  a  lot  of  un- 
necessary sickness,  and  it  can't  exist  without  a  cause; 
for  nature  is  continually  at  work  fighting  back  evil 
influences.     Every  moment  man's  life  is  attended  by 


Food  Fundamentals  119 

health-imparting  influences;  his  health  uplift  is  so 
great  that  he  should  enjoy  continuous  health,  if  it 
were  not  for  his  hundreds  of  bad  habits,  many  of 
which  he  knows  about,  but  fails  to  shun,  and  many 
more  he  knows  nothing  about.  The  mixing  of  fruit 
and  bread,  or  other  foods  made  from  grains,  is  one 
mistake  which,  when  joined  with  others,  helps  to  de- 
velop disease. 

Many  people  declare  they  can't  eat  fruit  because 
it  hurts  them.  There  are  many  reasons  why  this  is 
true.  Those  who  eat  bread,  or  bread  and  potatoes,  or 
bread,  potatoes,  and  rice,  or  who  have  from  two  to  six, 
and  even  more,  varieties  of  the  decidedly  starchy  foods 
at  every  meal,  are  troubled  with  acid  digestion.  They 
not  only  have  an  acid  stomach,  but  their  mouths  are 
acid ;  the  secretions  in  the  bowels  are  acid  most  of  the 
time ;  there  is  often  colitis,  proctitis ;  and  women  have 
an  acid  leucorrhea.  These  subjects  have  rheumatism 
or  neuralgia,  and  they  are  very  nervous;  sleep  is 
broken;  when  they  eat  fruit,  the  fruit  acid  increases 
their  nervousness;  and  if  they  have  rheumatism,  the 
fruit  acids  increase  the  pain  and  general  discomfort. 
If  these  patients  drop  all  the  decidedly  starchy  foods 
for  a  time,  they  will  improve,  and  soon  be  able  to  take 
fruit  acids  with  a  relish  and  without  discomfort." 

(Tilden). 


Rhubarb  is  a  poor  fruit.  It  is  irritating  to  the 
mucous  membranes  if  taken  in  quantities,  or  very 
often.  The  final  result  of  eating  much  rhubarb  is  con- 
stipation, and  this  is  surely  true  when  taken  with 
starch.  It  may  be  used  as  a  fruit,  but  its  use  should 
be  limited.  It  usually  calls  for  more  sugar  than  is 
good  for  the  individual  who  uses  it.  Honey  should  be 
used  on  rhubarb  instead  of  sugar. 


120  Food  Fundamentals 

For  the  best  understanding  of  how  tomatoes  are 
to  be  used  by  those  following  the  ideas  presented  in 
this  book  they  are  to  be  classed  as  a  fruit.  They  may 
well  be  spoken  of  as  a  fruit-vegetable.  In  all  I  say  of 
fruit  I  include  tomatoes.  In  all  I  say  of  non-starchy 
vegetables,  tomatoes  are  not  included.  By  classing 
them  as  a  fruit  it  becomes  plain  that  they  are  not  to 
be  used  in  combination  with  starch.  The  fact  that 
they  are  an  acid  fruit  which  is  vegetable  in  nature 
gives  them  a  first  place  in  combination  with  protein 
and  especially  meat. 

Tomatoes  are  one  of  the  foods  that  are  best  taken 
raw.  When  canned  it  is  best  to  take  them  as  they 
come  from  the  can  without  re-heating.  They  are  made 
unfit  for  food  when  mixed  with  starch  preparations, 
as  a  dressing  of  flour  and  milk,  or  the  addition  of 
crackers  to  tomato  soup,  or  to  the  tomatoes  when  pre- 
pared as  a  vegetable.  They  should  be  regarded  as  one 
of  the  best  of  foods  and  have  an  important  place  on 
any  table,  or  as  a  part  of  any  general  diet. 

Appleft  are  one  of  the  choicest  of  fruits.  They 
should  be  taken  as  a  fruit  meal  or  as  a  part  of  a  fruit 
meal.  They  are  not  to  be  eaten  between  meals  and  at 
bed-time.  People  who  think  apples  keep  them  from 
being  constipated  find  that  they  do  not  always  do  so. 
One  meal  each  day  of  fruit  alone  will  come  nearer 
doing  so  than  apples  at  bed-time,  but  if  wrong  habits 
of  living  are  the  cause  of  the  constipation  this  will  be 
only  temporary. 


Food  Fundamentals  121 

I  know  of  but  one  use  for  vinegar  and  that  is  to 
put  up  pickles.  Those  who  know  of  any  other  method 
of  putting  them  up  can  do  entirely  without  vinegar. 
Lemon  juice  can  take  its  place  in  every  other  way. 
Vinegar  should  not  be  used  because  it  delays  digestion. 
It  does  more  than  delay  digestion ;  it  stops  it  until  the 
vinegar  is  overcome  with  stomach  secretions. 

FAT. 

About  fourteen  per  cent  of  the  body  weight  is  fat. 
It  is  stored  up  in  the  body  as  a  reserve  food;  it  fur- 
nishes a  part  of  the  heat  energy  and  is  rather  impor- 
tant in  this  respect;  it  is  a  protein  saver,  and  by  this 
we  mean  that  the  more  fat  we  use  as  food  the  less  pro- 
tein is  needed  —  when  the  fat  is  oxidized  the  protein 
is  held  in  reserve. 

Foodstuff  containing  fat,  starch  or  sugar  is  worked 
over  to  form  the  fat  as  it  appears  in  the  body.  We 
don't  know  which  of  these  substances  gives  the  body 
most  work  to  convert  them  into  fat  as  it  appears  in 
the  body. 

Olive  oil  is  probably  the  fat  most  easily  digested. 
For  this  reason  it  has  its  record  as  a  good  thing  to 
produce  fat.  But  if  one  takes  more  fat  than  his  sys- 
tem demands  or  handles  it  will  create  digestive  dis- 
turbances that  will  make  him  poor.  Butter  is  next  to 
olive  oil  and  being  more  palatable  is  much  preferred. 


122  Food  Fundamentals 

People  should  know  that  from  the  standpoint  of  purity 
and  health  oleomargarine  is  as  valuable  as  butter,  and 
as  acceptable  to  the  digestive  system.  As  a  medium 
for  cooking  it  probably  surpasses  any  other  fat.  When 
butter  is  high  in  price,  it  should  be  used  in  its  stead, 
nothing  will  be  lost,  and  the  saving  in  money  is  con- 
siderable. Ignorance  and  prejudice  are  the  two  things 
that  keep  the  price  down,  however,  so  this  advantage 
will  not  always  remain. 

To  heat  fat  makes  it  more  susceptible  to  elements 
of  decomposition.  Fats  that  have  been  heated  and 
reheated  are  not  suitable  for  use;  they  easily  become 
rancid  in  the  stomach.  Fried  fats  are  unsuitable  for 
eating.  The  presence  of  fats  in  foods  or  in  the  stomach 
with  other  foods  results  in  much  slower  and  more  diffi- 
cult digestion.  There  is  no  doubt  it  has  a  place  in  the 
dietary  and  a  wise  use  of  fat  will  be  healthful. 

FRAGMENTARY  IDEAS  ABOUT  MISCELLANE- 
OUS FOODS. 

Milk  is  a  questionable  food  for  some  people. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  some  adults  will  handle  milk 
more  perfectly  and  with  greater  ease  than  others. 
This  must  be  determined  by  the  individual. 

Milk  is  not  a  good  food  for  sickly  people.  The 
good  results  that  has  been  gained  by  the  use  of  milk 
in  sickness  is  due  to  its  being  better  than  other  diets 
frequently  used.  Milk  is  better  than  milk  toast,  or 
toast  and  meat  broth,  or  toast  and  eggs,  or  many  other 
more  complex  diets  commonly  prescribed  for  the  sick. 


Food  Fundamentals  123 

It  is  a  prevailing  idea  that  sick  people  must  have 
food  to  keep  up  their  strength.  Physicians  think  this 
is  true,  and  reasoning  that  milk  is  the  most  simple 
food  that  will  supply  all  the  elements  of  the  body,  it 
naturally  is  used  a  great  deal  in  illness.  But  its  very 
complexity,  the  very  fact  that  it  does  contain  so 
many  different  elements,  unfits  it  for  food  for  the 
sick  and  makes  it  of  less  value  as  a  food  in  sickness 
than  a  food  more  simple.  Milk  should  be  avoided 
by  those  who  are  of  a  bilious  temperament,  and  by 
bilious  temperament  is  meant  the  temperament  of 
one  who  has  such  an  accumulation  of  poisons  that  the 
liver  is  frequently  overcome. 

Malted  milk  is  less  nutritious  than  whole  cow's 
milk.  It  is  a  lighter  diet  than  ordinary  milk  and  for 
this  reason  is  a  better  diet  for  the  complaining.  The 
mental  attitude  toward  it  creates  a  large  part  of  its 
value  for  it  is  usually  supposed  to  be  a  very  nutritious 
food,  and  because  it  is  easier  digested  than  whole 
milk  a  patient  will  get  along  better  on  it.  This,  how- 
ever, is  because  it  is  less  nutritious.  It  is  more  taste- 
ful when  hot  than  cow's  milk,  an  advantage  not  to 
be  ignored.  Malted  milk  affords  a  very  suitable  warm 
drink  with  fruit  or  starch  meals,  but  it  is  a  food  and 
should  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  meal. 

Home-made  ice  cream  is  not  only  a  pleasing  food 
but  a  good  one.  The  only  criticism  to  be  made  of  it 
is  that  it  is  cold,  and  if  it  is  permitted  to  melt  in 


124  Food  Fundamentals 

the  mouth  before  swallowing,  much  of  that  objection 
is  removed.  Anything  cold  taken  into  the  stomach 
during  or  after  a  meal  will  delay  digestion  and  bring 
on  disturbance.  So  people  with  weak  digestion  should 
use  wisdom  in  eating  ice  cream. 

It  is  difficult  to  buy  good  ice  cream.  Starch  and 
gelatine  used  to  make  it  firm  detracts  from  its  harm- 
less qualities. 

The  abuse  of  sugar  results  in  much  disaster  to 
health.  The  sugar  found  in  honey,  fruit  and  starches 
is  the  form  of  sugar  best  for  the  body.  Honey  is  the 
only  concentrated  sugar  that  can  be  used  with  wisdom. 
It  must  be  used  sparingly.  Raisins,  figs,  dates  and 
prunes  contaii^  much  fruit  sugar.  Fruit  sugar  is 
rich  in  that  form  of  sugar  known  as  levulose.  In  this 
form  sugar  is  assimilated  by  the  body  without  further 
digestion  or  change.  Honey  contains  much  levulose. 
Cane  sugar  must  be  changed  a  time  or  two  before  it 
has  reached  the  form  of  levulose,  and  until  it  has 
reached  that  form  it  ferments  very  easily.  When 
eaten  in  cakes,  cookies,  doughnuts,  fruit  preserves, 
as  seasoning  or  sweetening  to  any  food,  as  candy  or 
syrup,  cane  sugar  reaches  the  stomach  in  a 
form  that  readily  ferments.  It  stays  in  that  form  as 
long  as  it  is  in  the  stomach  and  usually  sets  up  fermen- 
tation. Cane  sugar  has  no  place  in  the  stomach.  Even 
small  amounts  should  be  banished  from  the  diet  of 
one  who  is  ill. 


Food  Fundamentals  125 

When  it  is  understood  that  the  final  products  of 
starch  digestion  is  sugar,  and  a  large  part  of  the 
final  products  of  digestion  of  fruit  is  sugar,  then  it 
can  be  seen  that  there  is  enough  of  that  material 
furnished  the  body  without  the  addition  of  cane  sugar 
in  the  concentrated  form.  It  should  be  made  clear 
that  every  bite  of  potato,  every  bite  of  bread,  every 
bite  of  any  wheat  product,  or  any  form  of  starch 
means  that  a  little  sugar  has  been  put  into  the  sys- 
tem, and  then  it  will  be  realized  that  very  much  of 
the  money  spent  for  cane  sugar  is  spent  for  the  build- 
ing of  disease.  Sugar  is  a  protein  saver,  and  by  that 
we  mean  the  more  sugar  used  the  less  protein  is 
needed. 


"The  fact  that  the  starch  of  cereals  is,  in  the 
process  of  digestion,  converted  into  sugar,  has  led 
many  persons  to  suppose  that  by  eating  of  cane-sugar, 
the  task  of  the  digestive  organs  is  lightened ;  in  other 
words,  they  assume  that  cane-sugar,  being  a  predi- 
gested  form  of  starch,  will  be  more  easily  assimilated 
and  is  better  adapted  to  the  system  than  starch  itself. 
This  is  an  error,  the  facts  being  the  very  opposite. 
The  teaching  of  Physiology  on  this  point  indicates 
that  cane-sugar  in  the  stomach  is  in  the  wrong  place. 
Cane-sugar  in  any  form,  as  in  maple  syrup,  candies, 
bon-bons,  preserves,  etc.,  is  specially  prone  to  ferment 
within  the  stomach.  And  cane-sugar  would  never  be 
found,  as  such,  in  the  stomach  provided  it  were  thor- 
oughly insalivated  in  the  mouth,  for  the  specific  action 
of  the  saliva  upon  it  is  to  convert  it  into  another  form 
of  sugar  which  does  not  readily  ferment  in  the  stomach. 
Predigested  starch  usually  means  malt-sugar.  Malt- 
sugar  differs  entirely  from  cane-sugar,  and  partic- 


126  Food  Fundamentals 

ularly  is  this  distinction  noticeable  in  the  manner  in 
which  the  stomach  treats  the  two  sugars,  especially 
as  it  relates  to  their  fermentation. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  while  cane-sugar 
so  readily  ferments,  yet  on  the  other  hand  in  solu- 
tions of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent  and  higher  it 
prevents  this  very  same  process  of  fermentation  or 
souring  from  occurring  in  other  substances.  Hence 
the  use  of  cane-sugar  in  preserving  fruits."     (Sager.) 

Bran  is  not  a  food  but  it  may  be  used  with  foods 
to  supply  bulk.  It  is  not  the  easiest  thing  for  the 
nervous  system  and  the  muscles  to  move  along  the 
intestines,  so  it  must  be  used  with  wisdom.  Bran 
may  clog  in  the  intestines,  and  often  does,  to  the  injury 
of  the  one  who  depends  on  it  to  free  the  bowels  of 
clogged  material.  One  who  is  very  ill  should  not 
take  bran  for  the  sake  of  affording  the  intestines  a 
bulk  to  work  on.  If  any  food  should  be  administered 
it  will  be  fruit  juices  and  clabber  and  depend  on 
them  and  osteopathic  treatment  to  rid  the  bowels  of 
accumulations.  Plenty  of  water  should  accompany 
the  bran  to  in  some  degree  prevent  the  drying  of  the 
food  bulk  as  it  passes  along  the  intestines.  This  is 
important.  Kellogg  uses  mineral  oil  in  this  connec- 
tion, but  I  do  not  favor  the  use  of  mineral  oil.  Laxa, 
a  Kellogg  product  composed  of  bran  and  agar  agar, 
is  a  very  useful  substance.  It  is  to  be  used  just  the 
same  as  bran. 

Bran  is  not  a  severe  irritant  nor  is  it  a  laxative. 
It  affords  a  bulk  of  cellulose  which  is  indigestible 
and  which  remains  to  pass  along  with  the  waste  and 


Food  Fundamentals  127 

refuse  the  entire  length  of  the  intestines.  If  it  is 
irritating  to  some  delicate  mucous  membranes  so 
would  the  fiber  of  vegetable  foods  irritate  them. 
When  taken  with  a  light  meal  bran  has  a  tendency 
to  prevent  overeating,  but  when  taken  with  a  full 
meal  of  the  heavier  foods  it  may  tend  to  overeating, 
though  not  always. 

It  should  be  taken  by  those  people  who  are  con- 
stipated when  they  are  eating  a  meal  which  does  not 
afford  much  cellulose,  especially  a  light  meal  of  fruit 
and  milk.  When  one  is  around  at  their  work  and 
on  a  special  diet  in  which  there  is  little  bulk  after 
digestion  has  been  accomplished,  bran  may  be  used. 
It  should  be  taken  with  the  meal  and  in  the  quantity 
needed.  After  being  taken  off  the  special  diet  the 
continuance  of  bran  will  depend  upon  what  ideas  are 
being  followed  to  establish  normal  functioning  of 
the  intestines.  The  more  one  is  able  to  accomplish 
without  the  use  of  bran  and  such  stuffs  the  greater 
physician  he  is.  The  osteopath  will  find  less  use  for 
bran  than  other  practitioners  because  of  the  good  re- 
sults gained  by  his  special  treatment.  But  that  phy- 
sician who  has  not  mastered  its  use  can  learn  to  be 
more  helpful  to  his  patients.  Bran  bread  or  bran  of 
any  kind  with  wheat  or  flour  in  it  should  be  regarded 
as  starch.    Bran  may  be  taken  at  any  meal. 

AIR. 

Too  little  attention  is  given  to  ventilating  the 
body   internally   and   externally.     The   digestion   of 


128  Food  Fundamentals 

some  people  becomes  more  perfect  as  the  chest  ex- 
pansion is  increased.  Foods  requiring  much  oxygen 
for  assimilation  are  much  better  handled  by  those 
with  large  chest  expansion  and  those  who  work  in 
the  open  air.  Meat  and  foods  made  from  grain  are 
of  this  kind  —  the  rich  proteins  and  the  rich  starches. 
Most  people  recognize  that  when  working  they  can 
digest  more  food  and  feel  the  need  of  it.  This  is  not 
wholly  dependent  on  the  breaking  down  of  muscle 
tissue,  but  quite  a  little  on  the  more  complete  oxida- 
tion of  the  food  in  the  tissues  as  a  result  of  breathing 
more  air. 

Catarrh  of  the  throat  and  nose  is  made  worse 
and  kept  in  existence  by  breathing  air  that  is  too 
warm.  Office  buildings,  public  buildings,  hospitals, 
homes,  are  all  kept  overheated.  I  cannot  overstate 
the  harm  that  arises  from  this  custom.  The  body 
should  be  so  clothed  that  the  skin  will  be  ventilated. 
Underwear  should  not  be  too  heavy  and  close-fitting. 
Woolen  underwear  should  not  be  used  at  all,  not  even 
by  those  with  rheumatic  tendencies.  Linen  or  light 
cotton  underwear  serves  well.  The  legs  and  sleeves 
may  be  a  little  longer  and  the  weight  a  little  heavier 
during  the  cold  weather  than  those  used  for  summer, 
but  the  difference  should  not  be  much.  In  this  climate 
no  change  should  be  made  in  the  fall  season  until 
the  cold  weather  has  come  to  stay,  and  the  same 
should  be  true  in  the  spring.  The  skin  will  react  to 
the  first  cold  days  if  given  a  chance.    If  one  is  a  little 


Food  Fundamentals  129 

cold  those  days  he  will  not  catch  cold,  but  will  be  a 
little  uncomfortable.  The  skin  will  become  thicker 
at  once  and  the  hairs  on  it  will  grow  rapidly,  provided 
warmer  clothing  is  not  put  on.  And  the  bed  clothing 
should  be  changed  on  the  same  plan.  Woolen  blankets 
may  be  used  with  greater  consistency  than  woolen 
underclothing.  But  they  should  be  used  only  in  the 
coldest  weather.  Night  robes  should  be  loose  fitting, 
and  too  much  covering  should  be  avoided.  Exposing 
one's  lungs  and  bronchial  tubes  while  sleeping  to  the 
coldest  air  of  winter  weather  is  not  a  good  measure. 
It  is  not  so  bad  when  one  is  active.  A  room  with 
enclosed  walls  having  many  windows  and  properly 
ventilated  is  better  than  the  open  sleeping  porch. 
Putting  the  window  down  at  the  top  and  permitting 
the  window  shade  to  come  down  over  the  open  space 
does  not  properly  ventilate  the  room.  The  window 
and  the  shade  may  be  up  from  the  bottom  to  much 
better  advantage;  then  screens  may  be  placed  so  as 
to  prevent  currents  of  air  being  directed  on  the  occu- 
pants. Some  heat  may  be  in  the  room  when  the  tem- 
perature is  lowest,  but  this  does  not  mean  that  the 
windows  are  to  be  closed  and  the  room  kept  warm. 
The  best  ventilation  for  a  room  is  obtained  when  at- 
tention is  given  to  conducting  the  air  that  is  in  the 
room  outside  rather  than  bringing  fresh  air  from 
the  outside  into  the  room.  This  is  best  done  by  air 
shafts  or  flues.  If  the  foul  air  is  taken  out  of  a  room 
there  is  little  doubt  about  fresh  air  gaining  entrance. 


130  Food  Fundamentals 

Care  of  the  skin  is  a  health  measure  of  first 
importance.  Bathing,  rough  towel  rubbing,  flesh-brush 
rubbing,  are  measures  that  can  be  applied  all  the  year 
around  and  bring  better  results  than  some  fad  idea 
carried  out  spasmodically.  A  sponge  bath  night  and 
morning,  followed  with  much  rubbing,  accomplishes 
the  desired  results.  How  cold  this  bath  should  be  de- 
pends on  how  much  the  skin  is  injured  to  this  kind  of 
measure,  and  the  degree  of  rebound  or  reaction  that 
follows,  the  age,  state  of  health,  etc.  Whether  a  cold 
tub  bath  is  a  good  measure  depends  on  many  things 
and  as  a  rule  will  not  be  properly  applied  by  very  many 
people.  Air  baths  are  excellent  and  can  be  carried  out 
very  nicely  as  a  daily  measure  for  a  while  in  the  morn- 
ing and  evening,  if  enough  thought  is  given  to  the  mat- 
ter. The  bath  and  brisk  rub  should  immediately  fol- 
low cleansing  the  teeth  and  drinking  cold  water.  Then 
the  clothing  should  not  be  put  on  until  every  toilet 
measure  or  other  morning  duty  is  attended  to  that  may 
be  carried  out  in  the  sleeping  or  dressing  rooms.  The 
gown  should  not  be  put  on  at  once  in  the  evening  when 
the  clothing  is  removed,  but  a  cool  sponge  bath,  a  rub, 
and  numberless  little  duties  that  are  usually  carried  out 
before  undressing  may  be  attended  to  while  nude.  It 
is  daily  attention  to  the  skin  the  year  around  that 
counts,  and  this  is  why  it  is  necessary  to  adopt  suitable 
measures. 


Food  Fundamentals  131 

WATER. 

About  65%  of  the  body  is  composed  of  water. 
It  serves  as  a  solvent  for  the  solid  foodstuffs;  it  aids 
in  the  removal  of  waste  products,  and  also  in  the 
removal  of  heat  from  the  body ;  it  assists  in  bringing 
about  certain  important  chemical  changes,  especially 
those  relating  to  digestion  of  food.  "To  accomplish 
these  ends  it  must  be  drunk  in  sufficient  quantity.  It 
is  a  well  recognized  fact  that  most  people  in  the 
United  States  drink  too  little  water,  from  which 
various  ills  result."  (Long).  I  frequently  tell  my 
patients  they  should  take  enough  water  to  keep  the 
urine  clear.  And  excepting  the  first  voided  in  the 
morning,  this  should  be  true.  The  rule  may  be  help- 
ful to  some,  but  a  clear  urine  may  be  passed  by  one 
who  is  drinking  very  little  water.  It  is  impossible  to 
make  a  fixed  rule.  One  or  two  pints  should  be  taken 
in  the  morning  on  arising,  at  least  thirty  minutes  be- 
fore other  food  is  eaten.  Further  water  drinking 
during  the  day  may  be  largely  confined  to  times  when 
the  stomach  is  nearest  empty.  Drinking  a  reasonable 
amount  at  mealtime  is  not  a  bad  practice  unless  the 
food  is  washed  down  by  it.  Drinking  abundant  water 
is  a  healthful  measure,  but  just  as  food  or  drugs  do 
not  cure  disease,  neither  does  water  cure  anything. 
And  this  is  as  true  of  mineral  water  as  any  other. 

Attention  must  be  directed  to  the  difference  be- 
tween drinking  water  and  food.  Grape  juice,  or  any 
fruit  juice,  or  any  kind  of  soup  or  milk,  is  a  food 


132  Food  Fundamentals 

and  should  not  be  taken  "in  a  haphazard  way,  between 
meals  and  at  mealtime,  mixed  with  any  and  all  sorts 
of  foods."  (Tilden.)  Again,  Tilden  remarks:  "I  do 
not  think  there  should  be  a  limit  to  drinking;  only 
those,  however,  who  eat  too  much  and  of  too  hearty 
foods,  or  use  too  much  of  condiments,  will  have  an 
uncontrollable  thirst,  and  only  those  who  eat  and 
drink  inordinately  will  suffer  from  the  heat  of  the 
summer  months.  Cold  drinks  and  ices  may  be  used 
at  the  close  of  a  meal,  but  after  digestion  is  fairly 
under  way,  cold  drinks  or  ices  should  not  be  taken 
into  the  stomach  until  digestion  is  completed." 

If  one  takes  a  very  cold  drink  after  eating  he 
delays  digestion  until  the  stomach  heats  up  the  food 
and  water.  If  his  system  is  capable  of  the  load,  he 
makes  no  complaint,  and  if  he  suffers  from  indiges- 
tion he  does  not  blame  the  ice  water.  Water  may  be 
taken  cool  or  warm  as  desired,  but  not  very  hot  or 
very  cold.  If  cold  water  chills  in  winter,  take  it 
warm.  All  liquids  other  than  water  should  be  sipped. 
They  are  foods.  People  take  fluids  into  the  stomach 
much  hotter  and  colder  than  they  think.  If  drinking 
a  warm  fluid,  let  it  touch  the  skin  surface  of  the 
upper  lip  and  notice  how  much  hotter  it  is  to  this 
surface  than  it  is  when  passed  to  the  inside  of  the  lip 
and  mouth.  The  fluid  has  not  cooled,  but  the  nerves 
of  sensation  has  decreased.  This  little  test  will  save 
many  people  from  stomach  trouble,  for  many  take  fluids 
too  hot,  and  this  one  thing  will  keep  up  their  trouble 


Food  Fundamentals  133 

in  spite  of  other  reasonable  treatment  and  care.  This 
little  test  illustrates  well  how  trouble  may  exist  in  the 
stomach  without  pain.  The  hot  fluid  that  causes  pain 
to  the  edge  of  the  lip  may  be  held  in  the  mouth  without 
any  sensation  of  pain,  and  as  it  advances  into  the 
stomach  the  sensation  becomes  less  acute. 

SALTS. 

There  are  many  different  salts  in  the  make-up  of 
the  human  body.  And  they  are  important  as  a  food. 
They  appear  as  chlorides,  phosphates,  sulphates,  and 
carbonates  of  calcium,  sodium,  potassium  and  mag- 
nesium. Common  table  salt,  sodium  chloride,  is  an 
alkali.  If  the  style  of  eating  is  correct  there  is  no 
need  of  an  additional  amount  of  this  salt.  But  the 
style  of  eating  usually  followed  must  deprive  the  body 
of  a  sufficient  amount  of  many  of  the  salts.  If  the 
quantity  is  abundant  there  is  lack  of  balance  between 
the  different  salts. 

"Hard  and  fast  lines  cannot  be  drawn  on  the  use 
of  salt.  Or  perhaps  it  would  be  better  for  me  to  say 
they  can  be  drawn,  but  should  not;  for  the  vegetable 
foods  —  especially  those  made  from  grain,  rice,  peas, 
beans,  and  potatoes  —  carry  a  large  amount  of  potash, 
and  salt  is  needed  to  decompose  an  excess  of  potash 
intake. 

Phosphate  of  potash  is  a  constituent  of  muscles 
and  of  the  blood  corpuscles,  but  it  is  an  abnormal  con- 
stituent of  the  blood  serum  and  has  a  bad  influence  on 
the  heart. 


134  Food  Fundamentals 

Potash  belongs  to  the  muscle,  and  soda  to  the  blood. 
Potash  and  soda  decompose  each  other.  This  being  a 
great  chemical  truth,  it  is  not  strange  that  vegetarians 
have  a  desire  for  salt ;  and  it  is  a  physiological  fact  that 
those  who  eat  largely  of  vegetables  should  eat  salt. 
Why  ?  Because  the  potash  in  vegetables  will  be  cumu- 
lative unless  enough  salt  is  taken  to  neutralize.  Potash- 
bearing  food  causes  the  excretion  of  the  soda  and  the 
demand  for  salt;  under  such  circumstances  it  should 
be  supplied,  for  the  body  requires  it. 

A  chemically  pure  salt,  or  chloride  of  sodium,  is 
least  harmful ;  but  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  its 
greatest  harmfulness  comes  from  stimulating  an  un- 
natural appetite  and  forcing  the  consumption  of  too 
much  food.  Salt  enables  those  who  use  it  to  overeat, 
and  the  habit  will  not  be  overcome  until  the  desire  for 
salt  is  overcome. 

The  mineral  element  in  food  is  of  as  great  impor- 
tance as  the  albuminous  element.  Tissue  cannot  be 
built  without  the  tissue  —  or  food  —  salts  which  fur- 
nish the  skeletal  or  structural  elements."     (Tilden.) 


No  doubt  the  different  salts  are  important  as 
building  material.  But  in  my  opinion  they  are  more 
important  in  keeping  a  proper  chemical  balance,  and 
as  conductors  of  electricity  in  the  body,  and  when 
supplied  by  vegetables  and  fruits  the  pure  filtered 
water  that  accompanies  them  is  a  valuable  factor. 
Table  salt  is  used  very  much  to  excess.  The  quantity 
should  be  limited.  This  is  a  matter  of  training,  or 
correcting  the  bad  habit.  Foods  that  once  did  not 
taste  well  without  salt,  taste  better  without  it  when 
the  taste  for  plain  foods  is  developed. 


Food  Fundamentals  135 

INDULGENCES. 
Throughout  this  book  I  have  frequently  sanc- 
tioned the  use  of  a  questionable  food  and  advised' 
against  its  frequent  use.  This  is  more  of  a  concession 
than  recommendation.  People  are  not  going  to  give 
up  the  use  of  these  favorite  dishes  altogether,  and 
I  consider  it  wise  to  say  how  they  may  be  used 
with  the  least  harm.  When  I  say  that  pickles,  corn- 
bread,  shortcake,  etc.,  should  not  be  used  too  fre- 
quently the  statement  is  a  relative  one.  If  one  in- 
dulges in  pickles  today  they  should  be  feeling  quite  well 
before  they  should  permit  themselves  to  eat  pancakes 
or  shortcake.  Any  indulgences  of  this  nature  must 
depend  upon  one's  ability  to  properly  handle  them, 
and  it  should  always  be  kept  in  mind  that  pain 
is  not  an  indicator  in  these  matters  —  the  indicator 
may  be  one  of  many,  many  things  less  noticeable  than 
pain. 

One  cannot  eat  pancakes  every  morning  for 
weeks  without  doing  himself  injury.  They  should  not 
be  taken  oftener  than  once  or  twice  a  week.  This  is 
true  of  cornbread  and  of  many  different  combinations 
that  tax  the  digestive  powers  and  the  nervous  system 
heavily.  If  one  eats  pancakes  or  cornbread  for  break- 
fast he  should  not  eat  baked  beans  for  supper  that 
day.  The  eating  for  a  day  should  be  studied  and 
watched  even  more  than  for  any  one  meal. 


136  Food  Fundamentals 

Hot  cakes  may  compose  a  good  meal,  but  not  as 
usually  taken.  The  cakes  must  be  made  of  good 
material  and  thoroughly  light  and  granular  instead 
of  being  heavy  and  pasty.  They  should  be  eaten  with 
butter,  and  if  anything  additional  is  to  be  used  on 
them,  it  should  be  a  little  honey.  No  syrup  of  any 
kind.  Enough  pancakes  followed  with  a  glass  or  two 
of  milk  should  be  taken  for  the  meal,  though  raw 
non-starchy  v€|[getables  as  lettuce  or  cucumbers  or 
radishes  may  be  used. 

Strawberry  shortcake,  peach  cobbler,  apple  dump- 
lings, plum  pudding,  fruit  pie,  and  any  starch  and  fruit 
mixture  may  be  spoken  of  under  one  head  as  a  bad 
combination,  unfit  for  the  complaining  stomach.  The 
best  way  to  eat  this  kind  of  food  is  to  make  the  entire 
meal  of  it  and  milk,  with  raw  non-starchy  vegetables, 
sipping  the  milk  after  eating  a  generous  helping  of 
the  mixture.  It  should  be  used  as  a  light  meal  and 
should  not  be  repeated  too  often.  If  there  is  the 
slightest  sign  of  disturbance  after  eating  a  meal  of 
this  kind  the  next  meal  should  be  omitted  or  it  should 
consist  of  fruit  only  or  raw  vegetables  only.  Eating 
according  to  the  regular  routine  should  not  be  re- 
sumed until  all  symptoms  have  disappeared. 

If  a  child  should  be  at  a  table  where  this  kind  of 
food  is  displayed,  and  if  it  is  a  part  of  the  plan  to 
give  it  this  food,  then  it  is  a  mistake  to  withhold  it 
until  the  child  has  eaten  a  full  meal  of  other  kinds 


Food  Fundamentals  137 

of  food,  for  overeating  is  then  inevitable.  Permit  the 
child  to  eat  freely  of  the  fruit  mixture,  then  sip  a 
glass  or  two  of  milk,  and  eat  raw  vegetables,  if  it 
desires  them.  Make  the  entire  meal  of  the  fruit 
mixture,  milk,  and  vegetables.  This  usually  satisfies 
the  child's  desires  and  is  much  better  for  it  than  a 
full  meal  of  bread,  butter,  mashed  potatoes,  chicken, 
gravy,  etc.,  and  then  a  piece  of  pie  or  a  dish  of  some 
fruit  mixture,  as  strawberry  shortcake. 

Pies  other  than  fruit  pies  may  be  used  as  a  des- 
sert for  a  starch  meal,  but  it  is  better  to  eat  them  in 
the  same  manner  as  a  fruit  pie  —  make  them  the  basis 
of  a  meal  of  which  milk  and  raw  vegetables  may  form 
a  part.  Custard  pie,  banana  custard  pie,  or  chocolate 
pie  are  among  those  more  appropriate  as  a  dessert 
with  a  starch  meal  than  the  fruit  pie. 

In  this  manner  many  questions  arising  about  the 
use  of  puddings  and  many  mixtures  may  be  answered. 
It  is  not  absolutely  necessary  to  do  away  with  all 
these  delicacies,  but  it  is  necessary  to  give  them  a  suit- 
able place  in  the  dietary  of  the  healthy  and  no  place 
in  the  dietary  of  the  sickly. 

Candy  has  already  been  spoken  of  as  an  unsuitable 
food.  The  sick  must  not  indulge  in  it  at  all.  When 
taken  by  those  who  are  well  or  in  fair  health  it  should 
form  a  part  of  a  fruit  meal.  Candy  will  go  with  fruit 
better  than  with  any  other  food,  and  children  should 
not  be  permitted  to  take  it  between  meals  nor  with  any 
other  kind  of  a  meal. 


138  Food  Fundamentals 

Sauer  Kraut  may  be  used  as  a  part  of  a  meat 
meal  occasionally,  and  some  people  may  use  it  quite 
frequently.  I  have  not  used  this  in  a  dietary  way 
enough  to  know  of  its  limitations,  but  I  am  inclined 
to  think  if  the  cabbage  is  properly  chewed  and  if  it 
is  kept  free  from  vinegar,  the  combination  of  kraut 
with  protein  is  a  good  one. 

Pickles,  sweet  or  sour,  may  be  used  with  a  meat 
meal.  They  are  a  treacherous  food,  however,  and  only 
those  who  are  well  should  indulge  and  that  not  too  fre- 
quently. 

The  pumpkin  is  a  treacherous  food  that  should  not 
be  used  by  one  who  has  weak  digestion  or  is  sickly  in 
any  way.  It  sours  readily  when  exposed  to  the  air 
and  ferments  easily  in  the  stomach. 

COMBINATIONS. 
The  general  character  of  the  secretions  of  the 
mouth  is  alkaline.  The  general  character  of  the  secre- 
tions of  the  stomach  is  acid.  Starch  is  best  digested 
in  an  alkaline  medium  and  protein  in  an  acid  medium. 
If  starch  is  taken  into  the  mouth  and  chewed  thor- 
oughly the  digestive  process  is  well  begun,  and  the 
resulting  product  passed  into  the  stomach  is  not  likely 
to  ferment.  When  it  reaches  the  stomach,  it  will 
meet  with  a  digestive  fluid  much  less  acid  in  nature 
than  if  protein  were  to  be  digested.  We  have  good 
reasons  to  believe  that  for  a  time  at  least  the  character 


Food  Fundamentals  139 

of  the  stomach  secretions  will  be  alkaline,  oi*  poten- 
tially so,  when  starches  alone  are  present.  Likewise 
when  it  passes  to  the  intestines  the  digestive  secre- 
tions are  adapted  to  this  special  work. 

If  protein  is  taken  into  the  mouth  the  secretions 
excited  by  its  presence  are  less  alkaline  in  character 
than  those  excited  by  starch.  They  are  probably 
neutral  in  nature  and  no  digestion  of  the  meat  takes 
place.  The  more  the  meat  is  chewed,  the  more  per- 
fect will  the  neutralization  of  the  secretions  be.  If 
only  chewed  a  little  they  may  remain  alkaline  and 
have  an  influence  toward  the  decomposition  of  the 
meat.  If  chewed  thoroughly  there  is  a  probability  of 
the  saliva  becoming  neutral  or  acid  in  nature.  When 
the  meat  is  passed  into  the  stomach  the  secretions  be- 
come decidedly  acid  to  meet  the  conditions  needed  for 
its  digestion,  and  in  turn  the  secretions  thrown  into 
the  intestines  and  formed  by  them  are  specially  suited 
for  meat  digestion. 

Any  food,  of  whatsoever  nature,  if  taken  by  it- 
self, will  call  forth  a  ready  response  from  each  and 
every  part  of  the  digestive  tract  to  meet  the  demands 
of  the  occasion. 

Does  it  not  appear  that  if  a  bite  of  rich  starchy 
food  like  bread  or  potato  is  taken  into  the  stomach 
together  with  a  bite  of  meat  or  any  rich  protein  food, 
the   stomach   is   required  to   accomplish  two  things 


140  Food  Fundamentals 

diametrically  opposite?  At  best  the  work  of  the 
stomach  under  such  circumstances  is  far  from  per- 
fect. 

And  if  starch  is  ingested  at  the  same  time  with 
fruit  or  any  acid  food  is  it  not  apparent  that  the 
work  of  digestion  is  certain  to  be  slower  and  impaired  ? 

If  starch  is  taken  with  sugar  the  secretions  are 
too  abundant  and  of  a  different  kind  and  quality  be- 
cause of  the  sugar,  and  the  digestion  of  the  starch  is 
imperfect. 

If  protein  is  taken  with  sugar  it  makes  one  of 
the  worst  combinations.  None  seems  to  produce  more 
disastrous  effects.  The  sugar  seems  to  promote  de- 
composition instead  of  permitting  normal  digestion. 

One  of  the  first  steps  in  the  digestion  of  milk  is 
the  curdling  of  it  by  the  acids  of  the  stomach.  The 
acids  of  fruit  has  a  similar  action  on  milk  and  when 
taken  with  it  they  make  it  easier  for  the  stomach  to 
digest  the  milk.  The  repulsive  idea  of  sour  milk  and 
the  curdling  of  milk  on  fruit  are  ideas  resulting  from 
wrong  teaching.  When  one  proves  for  himself  that 
the  combination  is  a  suitable  one  and  that  no  bad 
feeling  results  from  eating  sour  fruit  and  milk  to- 
gether the  combination  is  pleasing. 

In  the  early  history  of  the  human  race  life  was 
comparatively  simple  and  food  combinations  were 
almost  unknown.  Now  life  is  complex,  depleting  the 
nervous  system  and  unfitting  it  for  the  work  of  diges- 


Food  Fundamentals  141 

tion,  and  at  the  same  time  the  usual  dietary  is  an  in- 
discriminate hodgepodge.  The  study  of  proper  food 
combination  plays  a  great  part  in  the  return  of  the 
sick  to  health.    It  cannot  be  given  a  second  place. 

The  rich  starchy  foods  and  acids  are  not  to  be 
combined.  And  this  statement  must  be  taken  at  full 
value.  Those  who  are  well  may  do  many  wrong 
things  for  a  time  or  all  their  life,  but  this  fact  does 
not  enter  into  the  matter  at  all.  Those  who  are  sick 
must  not  combine  acids  with  starch  if  they  would  be 
well.  Even  the  sick  may  not  always  be  stricken  with 
disturbance  the  minute  after  such  a  thing  is  done, 
but  I  am  not  so  certain  about  many  other  things  as 
I  am  about  the  bad  results  of  mixing  starch  and  acids. 

The  world  has  been  doing  this  for  a  long  time. 
Scientific  writers  on  dietetics  recommend  this  com- 
bination. Physicians,  nurses,  hospitals,  all  use  such 
mixtures.  But  it  should  be  noted  that  the  whole  world 
is  ill,  and  have  been  so  for  a  long  time.  And  what 
follows  the  breaking  off  of  this  combination  should  be 
observed  very  closely.  I  may  not  give  scientific  proof 
but  the  claims  I  make  will  bear  investigation.  The 
results  of  combining  foods  properly  yet  remains  to 
be  perceived  by  physicians  in  general,  by  scientific 
investigators,  and  the  people. 

Even  sick  people  are  not  ready  to  believe  that  a 
physician  can  mean  that  acid  and  starch  in  every 
form  are  a  bad  combination.     They  do  not  think  it 


142  Food  Fundamentals 

is  meant  that  such  a  statement  should  be  carried  out 
fully.  They  think  that  such  combinations  as  orange 
to  begin  the  breakfast  followed  by  cakes  or  oatmeal, 
or  bread  and  jelly,  or  bread  and  jam,  or  bread  and 
fruit  preserves,  or  raisin  bread,  or  grape  juice  taken 
as  a  drink  at  a  meal  at  which  bread  is  eaten,  or 
lemonade  taken  in  the  same  way,  —  they  think  all  such 
as  these  are  exceptions,  and  because  everybody  do 
these  things  they  cannot  be  wrong.  But  these  are 
habits  that  are  making  people  sickly;  they  are  build- 
ing adenoids,  bad  tonsils,  ear  disturbances,  headaches, 
and  a  thousand  other  ills. 

To  break  this  habit  works  a  hardship  at  first. 
There  is  no  bad  combination  that  is  more  universal 
and  harder  to  overcome.  Many  who  condemn  others 
for  hesitating  to  give  up  the  tobacco  or  liquor  habit 
will  wince  at  giving  up  this  bad  habit,  even  after  they 
are  convinced  it  is  a  bad  habit  of  eating.  But  the 
physician  who  knows  the  facts  and  results  has  no 
choice  in  the  matter,  he  must  advise  the  discontinu- 
ance of  this  combination.  To  make  up  meals  without 
mixing  acids  and  starches  requires  attention  until  the 
custom  is  established,  then  it  requires  no  more  atten- 
tion than  making  up  meals  in  the  usual  way. 

Reasons  For  Not  Mixing  Starches  and  Fruit. 

Starch  is  best  digested  in  an  alkaline  medium 
and  the  acid  of  fruit  makes  digestion  slower  and  more 
imperfect. 


Food  Fundamentals  143 

Starch  is  a  substance  which  ferments  most  easily 
of  any  food  substance,  and  when  combined  with  fruit 
acids  in  the  heated  stomach  where  digestion  is  pro- 
gressing slowly,  fermentation  to  excess  follows.  It 
should  be  observed  here  that  fermentation  does  not 
always  mean  digestion. 

Continuous  excess  of  fermentation  of  acids  and 
starch  leads  to  excess  of  acids  in  the  stomach  and  in 
all  the  fluids  of  the  body  including  the  lymph.  This 
condition  leads  to  inflammation  or  irritation  of  the 
nerve  sheaths,  and  those  nerves  will  be  affected  first 
which  are  deprived  of  full  nutrition  because  of  an 
osteopathic  lesion.  This,  in  part,  accounts  for  local 
and  general  neuritis. 

Why  Rich  Proteins  and  Rich  Starches  Should  Not  Be 
Combined. 

The  physiology  of  the  digestion  of  these  substances 
as  given  above  stands  out  as  a  prominent  and  potent 
reason. 

Either  of  these  classes  of  food  affords  a  heavy  tax 
on  the  digestive  apparatus  and  nervous  system.  The 
two  at  one  meal  means  overwork  and  a  depletion  of 
the  nervous  system,  and  indigestion  of  some  nature. 

The  combination  leads  to  overeating  when  other- 
wise overeating  might  not  occur.  The  taste  and  the 
palate  are  more  likely  to  say  "You  have  enough"  at 


144  Food  Fundamentals 

a  proper  time,  when  one  of  these  classes  of  food  is 
taken,  than  it  is  when  both  are  ingested.  They  have 
been  wrongly  taught;  they  have  been  imposed  upon. 

The  cellulose  or  refuse  after  digestion  of  either 
of  these  classes  of  food  is  but  little.  A  large  part  of 
the  bulk  of  a  meal  of  either  of  them  should  be  made 
up  of  non-starchy  vegetables.  But  if  the  two  are 
ingested  in  any  quantity  there  is  not  enough  room  in 
the  stomach  for  a  proper  amount  of  non-starchy 
vegetables  without  overdistention  and  overeating. 

We  should  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  starch 
and  protein  are  combined  by  Nature  in  some  articles 
of  diet,  like  mature  or  dry  beans  and  peas.  But  this 
does  not  alter  the  truth  that  people  have  digestive 
disturbances  when  they  habitually  eat  the  rich  starchy 
foods  and  the  rich  protein  foods  together.  There  are 
no  foods  more  easily  taken  to  excess  than  these  foods 
in  which  starch  and  protein  is  combined  naturally. 
For  this  very  reason  special  attention  should  be  given 
to  the  foods  taken  at  the  same  meal  with  them  or 
taken  on  the  same  day  in  which  they  are  eaten. 

I  am  not  propounding  some  pet  theory  of  my 
own.  If  I  were  I  would  work  up  a  theory  more 
pleasing  to  the  whims  of  people.  I  am  only  recording 
observations.  I  am  not  to  blame  if  the  digestive 
organs  show  "symptoms"  when  abused,  but  the  Lord 
who  made  it  holds  me  responsible  for  the  truth  about 
its  action  as  He  has  given  me  power  to  discern  that 
truth. 


Food  Fundamentals  145 

Why  Fruit  and  Cooked  Non^Starchy  Vegetables  Should 
Not  Be  Combined. 
Experience  has  taught  me  that  cooked  non- 
starchy  vegetables  do  not  combine  well  with  fruits,  and 
it  does  not  matter  if  the  fruit  is  raw  or  cooked.  Un- 
doubtedly it  is  a  result  of  the  chemical  change  brought 
about  by  cooking  of  the  vegetables,  but  the  nature  of 
this  change  is  unknown,  except  that  the  juices  are 
made  less  stable. 

Suitable  Combinations  With  Rich  Starchy  Foods. 

The  rich  starchy  foods  combine  nicely  with  the 
non-starchy  vegetables,  raw  or  cooked,  with  butter  and 
sweet  milk. 

The  vegetables  should  be  cooked  as  directed  and 
not  dressed  with  an  acid  dressing.  Sour  milk  may  be 
combined  with  starch  by  some  people,  but  as  a  rule 
it  is  not  a  good  combination. 

Suitable  Combinations  With  Rich  Protein  Foods 
The  rich  protein  foods  combine  well  with  the  non»- 
starchy  vegetables,  raw  or  cooked,  with  acid  fruits, 
and  especially  well  with  tomatoes. 

Suitable  Combinations  With  Non-Starchy  Vegetables. 
Cooked  non-starchy  vegetables  do  not  combine 
well  if  taken  alone  with  fruit.  If  they  are  taken  with 
meat  and  fruit  as  a  meal  they  seem  to  do  very  well. 
This  may  be  because  of  the  greater  stimulation  af- 
forded by  the  meat. 


146  Food  Fundamentals 

With  this  exception  cooked  or  raw  non-starchy 
vegetables  combine  well  with  every  other  article  of 
food. 


Suitable  Combinations  With  Fruit. 

Fruit  combines  well  with  all  the  dairy  products 
and  in  whatsoever  form  they  may  be  taken ;  with  raw 
non-starchy  vegetables;  sour  fruits  combine  well  with 
the  rich  protein  foods. 

The  combination  of  fruit  with  dairy  products  is 
a  very  healthful  combination  and  is  not  likely  to  make 
one  sick,  as  is  usually  supposed.  The  acid  of  the  fruit 
is  helpful  in  the  digestion  of  the  milk  and  tends  to 
prevent  the  bilious  condition  that  so  often  follows 
taking  freely  of  milk.  If  milk  is  curdled  by  the  addi- 
tion of  fruit  juice  before  it  is  eaten,  it  is  no  more  un- 
healthful  than  to  take  it  at  a  meal  in  which  acid  is 
taken,  for  the  acid  will  be  mixed  with  the  milk  in  the 
stomach  and  the  curdled  mass  would  look  just  as  bad 
in  the  stomach  as  out  of  it.  There  are  people  who 
would  not  think  of  putting  sweet  cream  on  cherries 
but  will  eat  cherries  at  a  meal  in  which  they  have 
taken  cream  in  coffee  or  oatmeal.  They  should  know 
that  the  cream  in  the  coffee  is  mixed  with  the  cherries 
in  the  stomach.  These  people  will  hold  up  their  hands 
in  horror  when  you  tell  them  it  will  not  kill  them  out- 
right to  make  a  whole  meal  of  cherries  and  milk,  and 
they  are  more  astounded  when  you  tell  them  that  one 


Food  Fundamentals  147 

bite  of  bread  with  a  meal  of  fruit  and  milk  might  lead 
to  trouble.  Such  an  attitude  is  due  to  ignorance  and 
wrong  teaching. 

"There  are  people  stupid  enough  to  declare  that 
milk  and  fruit  are  rank  poison.  These  are  the  people 
who  kept  the  world  flat  and  fixed  for  ages.  They  will 
eat  bread,  butter,  fruit,  sugar  and  cream  at  meals; 
then  more  fruit  between  meals;  and,  when  outraged 
digestion  kills  a  child  with  convulsions,  or  gives  them 
the  'Jerry-go-mimbles'  —  the  old-style  tango  dance  — 
they  throw  up  their  hands  and  declare  that  fruit  and 
milk,  eaten  together,  are  poison.  Just  what  sort  of  a 
reasoning  apparatus  an  individual  has  who  can  eat 
milk,  fruit,  and  starch  together,  and  then,  when  trouble 
comes,  declare  that  fruit  and  milk  caused  it,  I  cannot 
tell,  except  that  there  must  be  something  wrong  with 
the  steering  gear."    (Tilden.) 

Combination  With  Fats. 
Fats  are  most  acceptable  when  taken  in  connec- 
tion with  acids.    But  they  combine  well  with  all  foods. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  they  cause  the  digestion 
of  other  foods  to  be  more  difficult. 

Miscellaneous  Ideas  On  Combinations. 
Milk  and  meat  do  not  make  a  good  combination 
for  a  meal.  All  the  reasons  need  not  be  enumerated. 
I  cannot  fully  account  for  all  the  disturbance  usually 
set  up  by  this  combination  from  the  make-up  of  the 
two  foods,  but  after  trouble  is  started  it  is  easy  to  see 
how  it  becomes  serious.  Milk  is  alkaline  and  requires 
abundant  acid  for  digestion.  Meat  likewise  requires 
abundant  acid  for  its  digestion.    I  think  the  presence 


148  Food  Fundamentals 

of  milk  retards  the  digestion  of  meat,  and  anything 
that  retards  the  digestion  of  meat  promotes  its  decom- 
position. If  this  combination  is  used  it  should  be  ac- 
companied with  plenty  of  fruit  acid,  preferably  that 
of  lemon  juice.  Those  who  are  of  a  "bilious  temper- 
ament," that  is,  have  an  overworked  liver,  should  ob- 
serve how  quickly  they  suffer  after  eating  milk  and 
meat  at  a  meal. 

Milk  and  eggs  are  a  combination  on  the  same 
order  as  meat  and  milk.  If  taken  with  plenty  of  fruit 
acid  it  will  be  found  acceptable  to  those  in  fair  health. 
But  the  sickly  and  the  bilious  will  have  trouble  if  they 
eat  milk  and  eggs. 

Observe  how  the  tubercular  people  who  are  of  a 
bilious  temperament  lose  their  remaining  health  under 
a  routine  of  this  kind. 

Mature  beans  or  peas  contain  starch  and  protein 
in  abundance.  It  does  not  matter  if  the  beans  are 
baked  or  stewed,  or  how  either  of  these  foods  are  pre- 
pared, their  nature  should  be  kept  in  mind..  They  are 
a  strong  food  and  should  form  the  basic  part  of  the 
meal  of  which  they  are  a  part.  Raw  or  cooked  non- 
starchy  vegetables  combine  well  with  them,  and  are 
about  the  only  foods  that  should  be  taken  with  them. 

Suggestions  for  Daily  Dietary. 
It  does  not  matter  what  the  kind  of  labor  or  how 
hard  it  is  no  one  needs  three  full  meals  in  a  day  of 


Food  Fundamentals  149 

twenty-four  hours.  Two  full  meals  with  one  light  one, 
or  two  light  ones  with  one  full  meal  answer  all  the 
needs  of  the  body  for  food  that  may  arise  in  twenty- 
four  hours.  By  light  meal  I  mean  what  is  spoken  of 
elsewhere  as  a  fruit  meal,  or  vegetable  meal. 

When  the  winter  season  is  breaking  into  spring 
and  the  system  is  ladened  with  an  oversupply  of  heat- 
forming  foods  because  the  supply  of  green  or  non- 
starchy  vegetables  has  been  scarce  or  neglected,  fruit 
meals  or  non-starchy  vegetable  meals  should  be  taken 
twice  a  day  until  all  evidence  of  accumulating  poisons 
has  disappeared. 

That  my  use  of  certain  terms  may  not  be  confus- 
ing I  will  define  them :  A  starch  meal  is  one  made  up 
of  the  rich  starchy  foods  combined  properly  with  other 
foods.  A  protein  meal  is  one  made  up  of  a  rich  protein 
food  properly  combined  with  other  foods.  A  fruit  meal 
is  made  up  of  fruit  and  other  foods  combined  properly. 
A  vegetable  meal  is  one  made  up  of  non-starchy 
vegetables,  or  non-starchy  vegetables  and  sweet  milk. 
A  full  meal  is  a  starch  or  protein  meal.  A  light  meal 
is  a  fruit  or  vegetable  meal. 

When  the  summer  heat  is  trying  and  reduces  the 
vitality  of  the  nervous  system,  but  one  full  meal  a  day 
should  be  taken  with  one  or  two  light  meals.  It  is  a 
most  excellent  plan  to  take  but  two  meals  a  day,  but 
this  plan  is  not  to  be  followed  by  those  who  overeat 
as  a  result  of  it.    When  eating  two  meals  a  day  one 


150  Food  Fundamentals 

should  be  a  full  meal  and  one  a  light  meal.  For  one 
day  the  full  meal  should  be  a  starch  meal  and  the  next 
day  the  full  meal  should  be  a  protein  meal. 

And  when  one  is  not  in  full  health,  when  they  are 
trying  to  overcome  disease  and  at  the  same  time  carry 
on  the  usual  duties  of  life,  a  plan  of  full  and  light 
meals  must  be  adjusted  to  the  needs  of  the  case. 

If  one  eats  a  heavy  meal  of  any  kind  the  next 
meal  should  be  omitted  or  be  a  light  one.  A  full  meal 
of  starch  may  follow  a  full  meal  of  protein,  or  the 
reverse,  provided  that  a  light  meal  of  fruit  or  non- 
starchy  vegetables  precedes  and  follows  these  two  full 
meals.  But  two  successive  full  meals  of  protein  or  of 
starch  should  be  avoided. 

On  a  day  when  one  eats  of  heavy  food  like  com 
bread  or  baked  beans  the  other  meals  should  be  light, 
unless  the  amount  of  such  heavy  food  eaten  is  small. 

A  heavy  meal  of  any  kind  of  food  or  a  lighter 
meal  of  some  heavy  food  may  unfit  the  stomach  and 
digestive  apparatus  to  receive  food  for  a  longer  period 
than  to  the  next  meal  time,  and  if  it  does,  no  matter 
what  is  taken  it  will  become  a  poison  instead  of  food. 
If  the  stomach  is  not  in  condition  to  receive  food  noth- 
ing can  be  put  into  it  that  will  be  properly  digested. 

Fruit  Meals. 
The  following  ideas  are  merely  suggestions  and 
only  a  limited  number  are  given  in  order  to  clarify 


Food  Fundamentals  151 

some  point  that  otherwise  might  be  obscure  to  some 
reader. 

These  are  called  fruit  meals  because  the  basis  of 
the  meal  is  fruit.  Not  everything  mentioned  need  be 
used  for  the  meal,  but  if  anything  is  to  be  omitted  it 
is  not  the  fruit.  Such  a  meal  may  be  used  for  break- 
fast, luncheon,  or  the  evening  meal.  But  it  is  the 
opinion  of  the  author  that  the  lightest  meal  of  the  day 
should  be  the  breakfast.  No  rule  of  this  kind  can  be 
made  to  fit  the  needs  of  all.  There  are  individuals 
who  may  better  adjust  themselves  to  circumstances 
by  making  the  breakfast  the  heavy  meal. 

When  fruit  is  such  that  it  is  relished  without 
sweetening  no  sugar  or  sweetening  should  be  added. 
When  sweetening  is  necessary,  honey  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  cane  sugar.  If  much  sugar  is  added  to  fruit 
it  becomes  an  irritant  and  unfits  the  stomach  to  re- 
ceive food  at  the  next  meal  time. 

It  is  best  to  make  a  meal  of  one  kind  of  fruit 
though  a  mixture  of  different  fruits  is  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  bad  combination.  A  very  sweet  fruit  will 
combine  with  another  sweet  fruit  better  than  with  a 
very  acid  fruit.  But  the  real  danger  in  mixing  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  fruit  to  form  a  meal  is  that  one  is  more 
likely  to  overeat.  As  much  fruit  as  is  desired  should 
be  used,  if  overeating  is  avoided.  When  milk  is  taken 
with  fruit  it  may  be  used  on  the  fruit  or  sipped  sep- 
arately. 


1  [{ 


152  Food  Fundamentals 

1.  Sliced  oranges,  all  that  are  desired.    One  glass 
of  milk. 

2.  Uncooked  prunes,  milk,  and  cottage  cheese. 

3.  Baked  apples,  uncooked  raisins,  milk. 

4.  Oranges,   apples,   and(  pineapple  cut  up  to- 
gether. Buttermilk,  as  much  as  desired. 

5.  Cherries,  sweet  or  sour  milk,  or  cream. 

6.  Stewed  prunes,  sweet  milk,  cream  cheese. 

7.  Baked  bananas  and  sweet  milk. 

8.  Strawberries,  cream,  lettuce  dressed  with  salt. 

9.  Raw  apples,  raw  tomatoes,  raisins,  cream  or 
milk. 

10.  Berries,  jelly,  cream. 

11.  Plain  tomato  soup,  and  cooked  fruit  of  any 
kind  with  or  without  sweet  or  sour  milk. 

12.  Dewberries,  tomatoes,  lettuce;  eaten  sepa- 
rately or  combined  and  dressed  with  sour  cream,  or 
with  milk  and  lemon  juice. 

13.  Cantaloupe,  berries,  and  whipped  cream. 

14.  Watermelon,  all  that  is  desired. 

15.  Watermelon,  lettuce,  and  tomatoes. 

16.  Any  raw  fruit  and  any  raw  non-starchy  veg- 
etables. 

17.  Raisins  can  be  added  to  any  of  the  above 
menus. 


Food  Fundamentals  153 

18.  Cheese  of  any  kind  can  be  added  to  any  of  the 
above  menus,  provided  the  quantity  is  limited,  and 
provided,  further,  that  if  any  discomfort  or  ill-feeling 
follows  it  serves  as  a  warning  against  the  continuance 
of  the  use  of  cheese. 

19.  Properly  made  ice  cream  may  be  used  with 
any  of  the  above  menus. 

Vegetable  Meals. 

1.  Vegetable  soup  made  as  directed  and  eaten 
without  the  addition  of  anything. 

2.  Vegetable  soup  to  which  is  added  raw  cab- 
bage chopped  fine. 

3.  Cabbage,  carrots,  and  lettuce  chopped  to- 
gether and  dressed  with  salt  and  cream  or  cream  and 
lemon  juice. 

4.  Cabbage  and  sweet  onions  chopped  together 
and  dressed  with  any  fruit  juice  desired.  Pineapple 
juice  or  grape  juice  are  pleasing. 

5.  Lettuce,  celery,  tomatoes  and  cucumber 
dressed  as  in  three  or  four. 

6.  Lettuce,  sweet  onions,  radishes,  and  fresh 
grapes  chopped  together. 

7.  Any  group  of  cooked  vegetables.  They  may 
be  cooked  together  if  desired,  especially  those  that  are 
known  to  improve  in  taste  when  cooked  together. 
Parsnips  may  be  stewed  until  done,  then  browned  in 
the  oven  and  eaten  with  butter  as  the  basis  of  a  veg- 


154  Food  Fundamentals 

etable  meal,  the  parsnips  to  assume  the  place  of  the 
usual  bread. 

8.  Raw  turnips  sliced  and  spread  lightly  with 
pimento  cheese,  or  cottage  cheese. 

9.  Turnips  and  apples  spread  lightly  with  jelly. 
10.     Sour  milk  or  a  slight  amount  of  sweet  milk 

may  be  combined  with  either  of  the  above  menus. 

Protein  Meals. 

1.  Stewed  chicken,  creamed  onions,  green  beans, 
and  a  salad  of  lettuce,  celery,  cucumbers  and  lemon 
juice.    Dessert  of  berries. 

2.  Roast  lamb,  corn  on  cob,  cauliflower,  and  a 
salad  of  lettuce,  pineapple,  and  raw  apple,  dressed  with 
salt  and  lemon  juice. 

3.  Vegetable  soup,  two  eggs,  stewed  turnips, 
spinach  and  slaw. 

4.  Roast  beef,  sliced  tomatoes,  carrots  either  raw 
or  cooked,  asparagus,  cranberries. 

5.  Baked  beans  and  a  vegetable  salad. 

6.  Baked  fish,  tomatoes,  egg-plant,  and  a  veg- 
etable salad. 

7.  Custard,  canned  corn,  green  peas,  vegetable 
salad,  and  a  dessert  of  any  fruit-whip. 

8.  Nuts,  a  vegetable  salad  to  which  is  added 
grapes  or  berries  and  a  dressing  of  sour  cream. 

9.  Vegetable  soup,  cream  cheese,  cooked  non- 
starchy  vegetables,  and  a  vegetable  salad. 


Food  Fundamentals  155 

10.  Occasionally  ice  cream  may  be  used  as  a  des- 
sert for  a  protein  meal,  but  the  usual  dessert  should 
be  sour  fruits  or  a  salad. 

11.  A  fruit  salad  may  be  used  instead  of  a  veg- 
etable salad  when  desired,  if  one  keeps  in  mind  that 
the  raw  vegetables  are  quite  necessary  in  a  diet. 

Starch  Meals. 

1.  Toasted,  yeastless  bread,  butter,  green  corn, 
green  peas,  lettuce  with  salt  dressing. 

2.  Fresh  soda  biscuit,  butter,  honey  and  milk, 
which  is  sipped  after  eating  the  bread. 

3.  Baked  potato,  butter,  cooked  onions,  cooked 
turnips,  a  salad  of  lettuce,  celery,  and  cucumbers 
dressed  with  salt. 

4.  Hot  baking-powder  biscuit,  asparagus,  cauli- 
flower, dessert  of  ice  cream. 

5.  Dry  toast,  creamed  new  potatoes,  spinach, 
asparagus,  chopped  cabbage  and  lettuce. 

6.  Shredded  wheat  biscuit,  butter,  cooked  corn, 
cooked  onions,  raw  cabbage  dressed  with  juice  from 
the  cooked  corn  and  onions. 

7.  Com  bread,  butter,  egg-plant,  beets,  lettuce, 
dessert  of  ice  cream. 

8.  Plain  cake  of  any  kind,  salad  of  lettuce,  cab- 
bage, cucumbers,  dressed  with  salt,  glass  of  milk. 

9.  Toasted  bread,  butter,  bacon,  glass  of  milk. 


156  Food  Fundamentals 

10.  Cookies,  two  cooked  non-starchy  vegetables, 
ice  cream. 

11.  Cereal  flakes  eaten  dry  with  melted  butter, 
raw  vegetables,  dessert  of  cup-custard,  or  banana  pie. 

12.  Three  medium  sized  hot  griddle  cakes,  syrup 
or  honey,  milk.    Lettuce  may  be  added  if  desired. 

13.  Well  made  and  baked  doughnuts,  raw  veg- 
etables, milk. 

14.  Ice  cream  is  the  choice  dessert  for  starch 
meals.  Occasionally  custard  or  custard  pie,  chocolate 
pie,  pineapple,  prune-whip,  baked  apple,  or  baked 
bananas  with  whipped  cream  may  be  used  as  the  des- 
sert by  those  who  are  not  ill. 

Menus  for  a  Day. 

In  general  the  proposition  may  be  stated  thus: 
One  meal  is  to  be  a  fruit  meal,  another  a  starch  meal, 
and  the  other  a  protein  meal.  The  starch  and  pro- 
tein meals  to  contain  much  of  the  non-starchy  veg- 
etables. 

Breakfast:  Fruit,  or  fruit  and  dairy  products, 
or  fruit  and  raw  vegetables,  or  fruit,  dairy  products, 
and  raw  vegetables. 

Luncheon:  Meat  and  non-starchy  vegetables. 
Fruit. 

Dinner :  Starch  and  non-starchy  vegetables.  The 
order  may  be  changed,  thus : 

Breakfast:    Number  3  of  the  fruit  meals. 

Luncheon:     Number  4  of  the  protein  meals. 

Dinner:    Number  1  of  the  starch  meals. 


Food  Fundamentals  157 

DRINKS  AT  MEAL  TIME. 

If  one  chews  the  food  well  and  eats  deliberately 
there  will  be  but  little  demand  for  liquid  at  meal  time. 
Most  certainly  it  is  a  serious  fault  to  wash  food  down 
with  any  liquid.  Many  persist  in  thinking  they  are 
not  guilty  of  this  error  when  they  are.  If  one  swal- 
lows one  morsel  after  another  until  there  is  a  little 
discomfort  which  is  immediately  relieved  by  a  swal- 
low of  some  liquid,  he  is  washing  the  food  down,  he 
is  not  chewing  enough  nor  eating  deliberately.  If  one 
cannot  eat  a  meal  without  taking  fluid  during  the  meal 
he  is  bolting  the  food.  The  liquid  taken  at  meal  time 
should  be  taken  because  it  is  relished  and  for  no  other 
reason. 

Plain  water  is  the  choice  of  drinks,  and  any  other 
drink  is  a  food-drink.  Hot  water  two-thirds,  milk 
or  cream  one-third  with  a  slight  amount  of  honey  as 
sweetening  makes  a  pleasing  and  healthful  drink.  It 
is  often  called  hot-water  tea,  or  cambric  tea.  Postum 
is  a  cereal  drink  relished  by  some  and  may  be  used  in 
reasonable  quantities  without  harm.  There  is  a  ten- 
dency to  sweeten  it  too  much  and  then  take  too  much 
of  it.  Milk  may  be  used  as  a  food-drink  if  it  is  sipped 
and  not  drunk  like  water.  Milk  should  be  used  only 
with  such  meals  as  those  with  which  it  well  combines 
to  make  a  part  of  the  meal.  Malted  milk  can  be  used 
just  as  cow's  milk.    Fruit  juices  weakened  with  water 


158  Food  Fundamentals 

may  be  used  as  a  drink  when  they  form  a  part  of  a 
fruit  meal.  The  sour  fruit  juices  may  form  a  drink 
to  accompany  a  meat  or  protein  meal. 

Lemonade  may  be  used  with  a  fruit  meal  but  it 
should  not  be  iced  or  ice-cold.  All  drinks  should  be 
taken  either  cool  or  warm  but  neither  cold  nor  hot. 

There  are  other  fruit  drinks  that  are  as  palatable 
as  lemonade.  Pineapple  juice,  grape  juice,  apple  juice, 
berry  juice  all  make  a  delicious  drink  and  go  properly 
with  a  fruit  meal.  Jelly  reduced  to  the  consistency 
of  a  fruit  juice  by  the  addition  of  hot  water,  then  taken 
hot  or  cooled,  makes  a  tasty  fruit  drink.  Any  fruit 
juice,  or  jelly,  melted  in  hot  water,  may  be  mixed 
with  sweet  or  sour  milk  to  make  a  tasty  drink  as  a  part 
of  a  fruit  meal. 

Lemon  juice  stands  out  prominently  as  a  favorite 
fruit  juice  to  accompany  a  protein  meal,  and  this  is 
why  it  is  invariably  used  on  the  salads. 

USE  COMMON  SENSE. 
Those  who  adopt  any  plan  of  living  that  differs 
essentially  from  the  usual  custom  should  do  so  with  a 
perfect  poise  among  their  fellows  in  society.  It  should 
be  observed  that  it  is  the  habit  that  kills  rather  than 
the  single  act.  No  member  of  a  family  is  justified  in 
forcing  his  ideas  of  eating  to  the  front  to  the  dis- 
comfort of  all  the  rest.  People  must  be  taught  but  the 
meal  time  is  not  the  best  time.  If  it  is  necessary  to 
discuss  food  fundamentals  at  the  table  during  a  meal, 


Food  Fundamentals  159 

for  the  sake  of  teaching  children  and  others,  it  should 
be  done  with  kindness  and  consideration,  and  such  a 
routine  should  be  discontinued  as  soon  as  possible. 

There  is  no  reason  why  one  who  is  eating  one  meal 
with  others  cannot  eat  very  much  as  they  do  and  not 
suffer  for  it,  unless  his  illness  is  such  that  they  may 
know  he  dares  not  indulge.  When  one  is  in  a  physical 
condition  to  not  permit  any  indulgence  they  should 
refuse  invitations  to  dine  with  others,  to  attend  ban- 
quets, social  functions,  etc.  And  when  one  is  eating 
irregularly  with  others  they  should  use  such  discretion 
as  their  good  sense  may  dictate  —  they  can  combine 
their  foods  better  than  those  with  whom  they  are  asso- 
ciating without  their  wisdom  being  observed.  And  if 
this  is  impossible,  what  is  eaten  should  be  taken  with 
a  relish  instead  of  a  grouch.  A  wrong  combination 
eaten  merrily  is  incomparable  to  a  wrong  or  right  com- 
bination with  a  grouch.  The  mental  attitude  is  as 
much  as  right  combinations. 

HOW  TO  USE  DIET. 

It  should  be  apparent  to  the  thoughtful  that  no 
instructions  for  feeding  the  sick  can  be  put  down  on 
paper.  It  can  be  stated  as  a  general  proposition  uni- 
versally applicable  that  one  who  is  prostrated  with 
illness  should  have  no  food.  But  just  when  food  should 
be  administered  in  the  course  of  an  illness,  and  just 
what  that  food  should  be,  and  just  how  the  chronic 
invalid  should  be  fed,  and  the  diet  that  should  be  given 


160  Food  Fundamentals 

to  those  who  are  not  sufficiently  ill  to  be  in  bed,  are 
all  matters  that  must  be  answered  by  the  attending 
physician.  There  are  so  many  things  that  enter  into 
each  case  that  cannot  be  foreknown  or  surmised  that 
no  rules  can  be  given.  It  all  means  that  the  physician 
must  prepare  on  the  subject  of  diet  and  much  of  his 
information  must  be  gained  by  experience. 

But  the  lines  along  which  he  can  move  in  obtain- 
ing his  information  and  in  gaining  his  experience  may 
be  pointed  out.  In  gaining  experience  with  diet  the 
physician  need  not  "experiment  on  his  patients."  If 
he  does  not  always  know  the  best  that  can  be  done  he 
can  surely  know  what  is  better.  His  experience  may 
be  gained  while  doing  constructive  work. 

I  should  again  emphasize  that  fragmentary  infor- 
mation on  the  subject  of  diet  does  a  great  deal  of 
harm.  People  are  looking  for  a  diet  that  will  cure 
them.  No  one  was  ever  cured  by  a  diet.  There  is  no 
food  that  will  cure  any  known  disease  no  matter  how 
simple.  The  proper  use  of  food  may  permit  a  person 
to  get  well  where  its  abuse  will  make  his  immediate 
death  sure. 

People  don't  expect  to  be  given  a  diet  that  will 
cure  them  and  use  the  same  diet  the  rest  of  their  life. 
They  hope  to  be  given  a  diet  list  or  some  special  diet 
which  they  can  follow  for  a  time  and  be  well  ever  after 
no  matter  how  they  may  eat. 

I  think  it  is  just  as  great  a  mistake  on  the  part 
of  a  physician  to  prescribe  a  special  diet  and  then 


Food  Fundamentals  161 

not  teach  the  individual  how  to  live  so  as  to  avoid  the 
trouble  that  has  been  relieved  by  the  diet  as  it  is  for  a 
surgeon  to  cut  out  an  appendix,  or  tonsils,  or  adenoids, 
and  then  leave  the  patient  without  teaching  him  to  get 
rid  of  the  thing  which  caused  the  appendicitis,  or  the 
diseased  tonsil,  or  the  adenoids.  People  are  too  prone 
to  be  satisfied  with  getting  rid  of  the  disease  product 
and  still  be  in  possession  of  the  disease. 

Fasting  and  special  diets  may  satisfy  and  benefit, 
but  neither  teaches  how  to  live  so  as  to  avoid  disease. 

Fasting  is  a  measure  that  all  physicians  should 
learn  to  use  and  direct.  No  physician  will  serve  some 
patients  in  the  best  way  who  does  not  know  how  to 
direct  a  short  fast.  There  are  times  when  a  sick  per- 
son should  not  be  given  one  mouthful  of  food,  not  even 
fruit  juice,  but  as  a  rule  such  conditions  do  not  last 
long.  Such  occasions  must  be  determined  by  the 
physician  from  his  experience  and  knowledge. 

I  was  called  to  the  bedside  of  a  very  sick  man 
who  had  fasted  himself  for  twenty-seven  days.  He 
recovered  and  was  benefited  by  the  fast,  but  in  my 
opinion  he  could  have  carried  on  the  fast  for  many 
more  days  without  becoming  prostrated,  had  it  been 
carried  on  differently.  I  was  summoned  by  a  dan- 
gerously ill  lady  who  had  fasted  for  twenty-one  days. 
She  recovered  and  finally  became  stronger  than  for- 
merly, but  there  is  no  doubt  she  could  have  carried  on 
the  fast  much  longer  had  she  done  it  wisely.  I  have 
personally  conducted  a  number  of  fasts  ranging  from 


162  Food  Fundamentals 

thirteen  to  eighteen  days,  but  I  seldom  do  this  any- 
more. Why?  Because  I  believe  I  can  do  better.  I 
do  not  think  much  of  a  long  fast.  It  is  better  and 
wiser  than  thousands  of  other  things  that  are  being 
done  and  accepted  by  the  people  daily,  but  it  is  not 
the  best. 

When  breaking  a  fast  which  has  been  carried  on 
for  fifteen  or  more  days,  it  is  better  to  make  the  first 
meal  or  the  first  two  meals  of  white  of  egg  rather  than 
fruit  juice  of  any  kind.  Then  fruits  may  follow,  but 
if  for  any  reason  they  seem  irritating  use  raw  veg- 
etable juices  or  vegetable  soup.  The  white  of  egg  may 
be  beaten,  or  strained  through  cloth  and  mixed  with 
water. 

There  are  people  and  physicians  who  are  preju- 
diced against  an  absolute  fast  even  though  it  is  a 
short  one,  and  by  a  short  fast  I  mean  one  extending 
from  one  to  ten  days.  There  are  many  people  who 
have  never  missed  a  meal  of  food  in  their  lives,  not 
even  when  sick;  they  think  something  serious  would 
result  if  they  did.  In  my  opinion  there  are  many 
diseased  conditions  in  which  Nature  compels  a  fast, 
though  food  is  taken  into  the  stomach. 

It  is  well  to  recall  that  the  digestive  tract  from 
the  mouth  to  the  lower  end  of  the  intestine  is  a  tube. 
It  is  collapsed  unless  distended  with  food  or  gas  or 
some  substance.  It  is  enlarged  at  some  places  and 
coiled  up  at  others.  Were  it  straight  and  open  one 
could  look  through  it.     And  with  these  facts  in  mind 


Food  Fundamentals  163 

you  can  understand  how  food  is  outside  of  the  body 
even  though  it  is  inside  of  the  stomach  or  intestines. 
It  is  not  a  part  of  the  body  until  it  has  passed  through 
the  intestinal  wall. 

Now,  when  one  is  very  ill  the  absorbing  and 
assimilating  mechanism  of  the  mucous  membrane  of 
stomach  and  intestines  is  shut  off  and  closed  to  all 
inquirers.  It  may  be  that  not  one  particle  of  any 
kind  of  food  material  passes  through  these  mem- 
branes. The  fact  that  food  is  put  into  the  stomach 
and  is  changed  and  passed  on  as  so  much  poison,  does 
not  argue  that  any  of  the  material  is  taken  up  by  the 
system.  It  is  an  additional  burden  on  the  nervous 
system  and  that  without  recompense.  This  burden  is 
placed  on  the  nervous  system  when  it  is  in  most  need 
of  rest,  and  too  often  the  price  is  death.  How  com- 
plete the  refusal  of  the  intestine  to  pass  food  through 
its  walls  at  times  of  prostration  depends  on  the 
severity  of  the  condition  and  how  capable  and  able  the 
membranes  are  to  respond  to  the  dictates  of  the  ner- 
vous system.  But  there  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that 
not  infrequently  nothing  but  the  water  that  may  be  a 
part  of  the  food  or  that  may  be  drunk  is  passed  for 
days.  And  in  conditions  less  severe  some  of  the  food 
may  be  received  and  the  rest  rejected,  for  it  cannot  be 
disputed  that  some  of  the  cells  of  the  body  have  a 
selective  power. 

Unmindful  of  the  fears  of  people  and  physicians, 
but  solicitous  for  the  welfare  of  the  sick,  Nature  often 


164  Food  Fundamentals 

forces  a  fast.  If  food  is  not  needed  the  system  will 
hesitate  about  receiving  it  even  if  we  see  fit  to  put  it 
into  the  stomach.  If  the  system  is  so  burdened  with 
disease  that  it  cannot  make  any  use  of  food,  it  will  do 
its  best  to  reject  it,  though  it  often  fails,  because  the 
protective  me|chanism  of  the  mucous  membrane  is 
broken  down.  This,  together  with  the  burden  of 
getting  rid  of  the  unwelcome  food,  accounts  for  the 
loss  of  weight  in  sick  people  who  continue  to  eat 
plenty  of  food ;  for  the  loss  of  weight  in  those  afflicted 
with  tuberculosis  while  eating  more  than  twice  the 
usual  amount  of  "good  nourishing  food." 

If  food  given  to  a  pneumonia  patient  is  used  to 
keep  up  the  strength,  why  does  the  patient  become 
weaker?  If  the  food  used  in  any  fever  illness  is  to 
keep  up  strength,  why  does  the  patient  invariably 
become  weaker  until  the  condition  which  caused  the 
fever  has  improved  so  there  is  no  longer  a  fever?  If 
food  prevents  weakness,  why  will  one  who  has  never 
missed  a  meal  become  weak  and  sick  ?  Certainly  it  is 
not  because  of  lack  of  food. 

The  idea  that  missing  a  few  meals  will  danger- 
ously weaken  a  sick  person  should  be  dissipated.  The 
idea  that  food  taken  when  one  is  feeling  bad  is  of 
benefit  should  be  corrected,  for  it  is  not  the  truth.  If 
the  reader  will  but  observe  closely  the  results  in  his 
own  case,  he  will  soon  prove  that  food  ingested  when 
he  is  feeling  poorly  is  received  with  a  rebuke.  Often 
a  headache  will  disappear  when  food  is  taken;  that 


Food  Fundamentals  165 

sense  of  weakness  will  vanish ;  a  certain  buoyancy  will 
follow,  etc.  The  temporary  stimulation  and  reaction 
gives  the  temporary  rebound,  and  this  is  often  wrongly 
interpreted  to  mean  that  the  food  was  needed. 

A  fruit-fast  consists  of  making  all  the  meals  taken 
of  fruit  juice  or  the  fruit  itself  and  is  a  more  efficient 
measure  in  every  way  than  a  long-continued,  absolute 
fast.  Many  people  think  they  are  fasting  when  eat- 
ing fruit  and  milk  regularly.  I  was  called  to  the 
home  of  a  patient  who  informed  me  she  had  begun 
fasting  because  she  knew  I  had  fasted  her  friend, 
who  was  sick  like  herself.  On  inquiry  I  learned  that 
her  breakfast  was  one  fried  egg,  one  slice  of  toast,  an 
orange,  followed  by  hot  water.  The  luncheon  con- 
sisted of  one  egg,  one  slice  of  bread,  one-half  of  an 
orange  and  green  onions.  The  dinner  was  one  egg, 
one  slice  of  bread,  one-half  of  an  orange.  This  was  so 
different  in  quantity  from  her  usual  eating  that  she 
remarked  with  sincerity  that  she  was  fasting. 
Special  Diets. 

Taking  all  food  away  but  fruit  juice  or  fruit  is 
quite  a  different  thing  from  no  food  at  all.  This  is  to 
be  considered  as  a  special  diet  or  fruit-fast.  There 
are  many  special  diets  and  no  one  of  them  may  be 
considered  the  best  in  every  respect.  How  successful 
a  physician  is  with  either  of  them  will  depend  upon 
his  mastery  of  it.  There  are  so  many  things  to  be 
learned  about  the  reaction  of  food  in  health  and  sick- 
ness that  when  a  physician  has  learned  how  to  use  any 


166  Food  Fundamentals 

one  food  as  a  special  diet  he  has  knowledge  of  great 
value,  and  he  often  concludes  this  special  diet  is  a 
cure-ail. 

Lemon  juice  diluted  with  water  until  there  is  no 
need  for  sugar  is  to  be  taken  at  the  breakfast  time,  as 
much  as  is  desired,  and  if  none  is  relished,  at  least  two 
glasses  is  given.  Pineapple  juice,  half  water,  is  given 
for  the  mid-day  meal  and  the  evening  meal,  using  one- 
half  glass  or  a  full  glass  of  the  juice.  Abundant 
water  is  to  be  taken  between  these  meals  of  fruit  juice, 
and  a  little  lemon  juice  may  be  added  to  this  water 
occasionally,  if  desired,  to  remove  the  mucus  and  taste 
from  the  mouth.  While  this  measure  is  being  carried 
on  the  bowels  must  be  flushed  with  the  enema  of  water 
if  they  do  not  move  naturally  and  thoroughly.  Plain 
water,  or  a  little  salt  may  be  used  in  the  enema,  which 
should  be  used  once  or  twice  daily. 

This  routine  is  used  where  the  sickness  is  severe, 
but  does  not  contradict  the  use  of  all  foods.  And  it  is 
used  in  the  initial  treatment  of  chronic  conditions 
where  a  special  diet  is  to  be  used  for  a  short  time,  a 
few  days  or  a  week  or  two.  Patients  will  often  follow 
this  routine  and  continue  their  regular  work  for  a 
week  or  more.  These  fruit  juices  will  keep  up  some 
activity  of  the  intestines,  and  supplementing  this  wfth 
daily  osteopathic  treatment  will  usually  insure  thor- 
ough bowel  movements.  Where  the  patient  is  not 
confined  to  bed  it  is  often  wise  to  use  bran  with  the 
fruit  juices.     It  may  be  taken  at  meal  time,  one  or 


Food  Fundamentals  167 

two  tablespoons  of  it  mixed  with  the  juice.  Laxa 
cakes  may  be  used  as  is  the  bran — the  quantity  of 
bran  to  be  determined  by  the  needs.  The  physician 
using  bran  will  frequently  find  it  a  nice  question  to 
decide  whether  emptying  the  intestines  of  waste 
products  by  the  use  of  bran  is  placing  more  of  a  tax 
on  the  nervous  system  than  the  poisons  that  would  be 
absorbed  were  the  bran  not  used. 

Just  as  soon  as  the  usual  quantity  of  food  is  re- 
duced there  will  be  a  halt  in  the  movement  of  the  food 
and  waste  materials  in  the  intestines.  This  will  per- 
mit accumulation  and  absorption  of  poisons  and  may 
intensify  the  severity  of  the  disease.  To  make  any 
attempt  to  relieve  this  complication  by  using  bran  to 
afford  bulk  will  be  unwise  if  the  nervous  system  and 
the  muscles  of  the  intestines  fail  in  the  task  of  moving 
the  bran  along.  If  food  is  taken  away,  or  if  no  food 
is  given  but  fruit,  the  waste  material  in  the  intestines 
will  soon  become  comparatively  free  of  poisons.  This 
is  why  a  patient,  so  ill  that  no  food  should  be  given, 
gets  better  without  food.  If  no  food  is  given  at  all 
the  intestines  will  still  act  a  little  and  often  more  than 
one  would  suppose.  The  waste  will  finally  be  carried 
into  the  colon  and  the  enema  will  remove  it.  Then  the 
further  accumulation  of  waste  will  not  be  so  full  of 
poison. 

If  fruit  or  fruit  juices  have  been  used  as  a  special 
diet,  when  the  time  for  a  change  is  at  hand  the  patient 
can  be  put  on  fruit  for  three  meals  a  day,  followed  by 


168  Food  Fundamentals 

fruit  for  two  meals  and  non-starchy  vegetables  for 
one,  and  this  routine  followed  by  fruit  for  one  meal, 
buttermilk  for  another  and  starch  and  non-starchy 
vegetables  for  the  other.  Then  protein  may  be  added 
to  the  diet  when  suitable. 

But  this  is  only  one  of  many  methods  of  pro- 
cedure. Not  infrequently  the  patient  can  be  put  at 
once  on  a  regular  diet  —  one  fruit  meal,  one  starch 
meal  and  one  protein  meal.  It  is  often  a  wise  measure 
to  keep  the  rich  starchy  foods  away  from  some 
patients  for  one  or  two  months,  using  fruit,  vegetable 
and  protein  meals.  One  must  understand  that  the 
patient  gets  some  starch  from  the  non-starchy  veg- 
etables, so  this  is  not  a  starch-free  diet.  Sometimes 
it  is  wise  to  keep  the  patient  from  rich  protein  foods 
for  one  or  two  months,  using  fruit,  vegetable  and 
starch  meals ;  and  it  should  be  remembered  that  there 
is  some  protein  in  the  non-starchy  vegetables,  so  this 
is  not  a  protein-free  diet. 

There  are  so  many  ways  and  details  of  changing 
a  patient  from  a  special  diet  of  fruit  that  it  would  take 
a  volume  to  enumerate  many  of  them.  There  is  no 
doubt  a  proper  history  of  the  way  people  have  been 
living  and  a  thorough  determination  of  the  diseased 
condition  present  often  points  the  direction  for  carry- 
ing out  the  special  diet  and  determines  the  foods  to  be 
eliminated  for  the  longest  time.  It  opens  up  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  symptoms  or  diseases  manifest  when  a 
patient  is  poisoned  from  decomposition  of  protein  or 


Food  Fundamentals  169 

fermentation  of  starch,  or  a  combination  of  the  two, 
or  whether  the  symptoms  are  governed  at  all  by  too 
much  of  one  kind  of  food,  etc.  Here  is  a  chance  for 
research  work.  No  one,  as  yet,  can  go  very  far  in 
answering  many  questions  of  this  character. 

Fruit  and  sour  milk  is  a  special  diet  of  great  value. 
This  diet  can  be  used  for  a  long  time  and  the  patient 
remain  at  regular  work,  but  it  is  none  the  less  ap- 
plicable to  some  very  sick  patients.  The  fruit  and 
sour  milk  may  be  used  alternately,  making  a  meal  of 
one  exclusive  of  the  other,  or  they  may  be  combined 
at  each  meal.  There  is  no  better  sour  milk  than 
clabber.  The  cream  may  be  taken  from  it  and  it  may 
be  churned  with  a  cream-whipper  into  fresh  butter- 
milk. Unquestionable  buttermilk  5s  quite  satisfac- 
tory, but  if  it  is  too  sour  or  otherwise  faulty  the 
results  will  not  be  gratifying. 

I  do  not  agree  with  Kellogg  that  the  results  from 
such  a  diet  is  because  the  intestinal  flora  (germs)  are 
changed,  though,  of  course,  that  is  a  secondary  result. 
The  result  gained  by  any  special  diet  is  primarily  one 
of  rest  to  the  nervous  and  digestive  system — it  is  one 
of  rest  to  the  whole  body.  There  are  other  things 
that  are  accomplished,  such  as  a  rejuvenation  of  the 
mucous  membranes  and  glands  of  the  digestive  tract, 
and  one  who  centers  their  thought  on  germs  will  see 
any  change  in  them  as  a  primary  good. 

This  is  a  special  diet  of  more  universal  applica- 
tion than  any  other.     It  is  the  special  diet  for  many 


170  Food  Fundamentals 

chronic  cases.  There  is  much  prejudice  against  sour 
milk  among  adults,  and  there  are  many  children  who 
reject  it  for  one  reason  or  another.  Sometimes  the 
mental  attitude  is  such  that  it  is  not  well  to  prescribe 
it.  It  is  often  quite  possible  to  gain  the  confidence 
and  then  follow  with  the  proper  diet  when  the  proper 
diet  would  have  been  refused  at  first.  To  refuse  to 
direct  a  case  that  at  first  shows  signs  of  antagonism, 
manifests  a  weakness,  for  often  steadfastness  of 
purpose  with  proper  teaching  is  all  that  is  needed. 
But  the  physician  should  be  the  physician ;  if  not,  who 
is?  He  should  also  be  a  teacher  of  those  of  his  clien- 
tele who  are  teachable. 

A  patient  can  be  taken  off  this  special  diet  much 
as  was  suggested  for  taking  them  off  of  a  fruit  diet. 
A  patient  that  is  put  on  any  special  diet  should  be 
taught  how  to  eat  more  conducive  to  health  than  their 
former  eating  was.  They  should  be  kept  under  ob- 
servation and  instructions  until  they  are  following 
intelligently  some  healthful  plan  of  eating  that  can  be 
continued  for  the  rest  of  their  life.  If  no  better  is 
known,  what  I  refer  to  as  a  regular  diet — one  fruit 
meal  a  day,  and  one  starch  meal,  and  one  protein  meal 
— may  be  used.  This  is  only  a  central  idea  and  when 
the  many  things  that  may  be  observed  about  carrying 
out  this  central  idea  are  well  understood  it  affords  a 
very  liberal  general  diet  that  does  not  build  disease. 

Raw  fruiU  and  raw  non-starchy  vegetables  may 
be  used  to  make  a  very  excellent  special  diet.     The 


Food  Fundamentals  171 

vegetables  may  be  used  alone  for  a  special  diet.  Any 
of  the  non-starchy  vegetables  that  are  relished  raw 
may  be  used;  the  more  common  are  lettuce,  celery, 
cabbage,  turnips,  onions,  radishes  and  carrots.  One 
or  more  of  these  may  be  cut  up  and  eaten  with  a 
dressing  of  cream  and  salt.  They  should  be  chewed 
thoroughly  and  the  entire  meal  made  of  this  one  dish. 
Alternate  meals  may  be  made  of  the  raw  vegetable 
and  raw  fruits,  if  desired. 

The  juice  of  raw  vegetables  is  very  bland  and 
non-irritating  to  delicate  and  inflamed  mucous  mem- 
branes. A  diet  of  raw  vegetables  is  most  excellent 
for  an  irritable  stomach.  Dr.  Tilden  regards  raw 
vegetables  as  constipating.  The  juices  of  raw  veg- 
etables do  not  excite  peristalsis  very  vigorously  because 
of  its  bland  nature  and  the  vegetables  require  more 
work  for  digestion  than  the  cooked  ones.  But  these 
characteristics  should  not  cause  them  to  be  regarded 
as  constipating.  If  one  does  not  overeat  of  them  they 
will  not  constipate,  though  constipation  may  be 
present  from  other  causes.  Bran  may  be  used  with 
this  as  with  other  diets,  but  it  is  never  to  be  used  just 
because  it  may  be  used. 

One  on  a  diet  of  this  kind  will  find  very  great 
changes  in  the  blood  taking  place  rapidly,  just  as 
occurs  when  on  a  diet  of  fruit  and  sour  milk.  This 
change  in  the  blood  is  not  because  of  the  change  in 
the  intestinal  bacteria,  but  because  of  rest  from  fer- 
mentation, decomposition  and  absorption.     There  is 


172  Food  Fundamentals 

no  particular  virtue  in  the  food  or  chemicals  in  them. 
They  are  wholesome  and  bland  and  palliative  to  the 
weakened  mucous  membranes,  and  their  greatest 
value  lies  in  supplying  these  things  while  giving  the 
digestive  system  a  much  needed  rest.  They  promote 
healthful  secretions  and  permit  the  glands  of  the  body 
to  purify  the  blood.  To  make  the  point  that  they  are 
death  to  germ  life  in  the  stomach  and  intestines  is  an 
error.  Healthful  secretions  of  the  mucous  mem- 
branes and  good  blood  is  death  to  the  germs,  if  "death 
to  the  germs"  is  a  necessary  way  of  thinking.  But  I 
do  not  believe  there  is  war  between  the  germs  and 
healthful  secretions,  nor  between  good  blood  and 
poisonous  germs.  There  is  war  against  the  poisons. 
The  germs  appear  in  great  numbers  and  multiply 
rapidly  only  in  the  extremity  when  the  secretions  and 
blood  are  overcome  with  work.  Then  they  attack  the 
poisons  and  multiply  just  to  save  the  more  important 
blood  cells. 

Milk  is  used  as  a  special  diet  by  some  with  suc- 
cess. The  author  used  it  as  a  special  diet  for  a  year 
or  more  in  his  practice,  and  with  benefit.  He  kept 
patients  on  it  from  one  to  six  weeks.  There  is  no 
doubt  but  what  milk  alone  as  a  diet  is  much  better 
than  the  hodge-podge  diet  used  by  many  sick  people. 
It  has  the  advantage  over  other  diets  carrying  a 
similar  amount  of  nutrition  of  not  changing  to  so 
violent  poisons  in  the  body.  If  milk  does  ferment  and 
decompose  the  resulting  products  are  not  so  detri- 


Food  Fundamentals  178 

mental  as  those  of  many  other  articles  of  food.  But 
it  requires  special  attention  to  give  milk  properly,  if 
such  a  thing  can  be  done.  To  get  the  best  results  it 
must  be  taken  in  large  quantity,  at  regular  intervals 
and  with  plenty  of  acid,  preferably  lemon  juice.  And 
while  such  results  may  be  spoken  of  as  the  best  to  be 
obtained  with  milk,  results  obtained  by  the  use  of  a 
large  quantity  of  any  food  should  be  regarded  with 
seasoned  suspicion. 

I  no  longer  use  milk  alone  as  a  special  diet. 
Why?  Because  I  think  I  can  do  better.  Those  foods 
that  are  less  complex,  less  nutritious,  and  which  work 
the  digestive  apparatus  but  little,  are  more  suitable. 
It  is  easier  to  teach  the  patient  how  to  make  a  change 
from  this  kind  of  a  special  diet  to  an  ordinary  health- 
ful routine  that  can  be  followed  for  the  remainder  of 
the  life,  than  it  is  to  make  such  a  change  from  a  milk 
diet. 

A  liquid  diet  is  a  special  diet  prescribed  by  many 
physicians  and  hospitals.  It  has  as  many  different 
meanings  as  there  are  different  people  who  attempt 
to  use  it.  Just  anything  that  is  in  liquid  form  will  do. 
But  it  has  its  merits.  There  is  no  doubt  that  it 
results  in  giving  in  some  degree  the  needed  rest  that 
I  emphasize  so  much.  But  while  giving  the  rest  it 
very  seldom  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  palliate  the 
irritated  membranes,  permit  a  favorable  change  in 
the  secretions  of  the  cells  and  glands,  and  avoid  de- 
composition.    For  a  physician  to  inadvertently  lay 


174  Food  Fundamentals 

aside  his  most  powerful  therapeutic  measure — proper 
withholding  and  prescribing  of  food — and  direct  a 
liquid  diet  the  meaning  of  which  cannot  be  known,  and 
the  nature  of  which  is  usually  far  from  the  best,  is 
most  pitiable,  regrettable  and  sickening. 

TROUBLE. 

If  the  reader  thinks  the  physician's  trouble  is  at 
an  end  when  the  proper  diet  is  outlined  for  a  patient, 
it  would  be  well  for  him  to  disabuse  his  mind  of  this 
fallacy  at  once.  When  the  usual  amount  of  bulk,  the 
usual  amount  of  stimulation,  is  taken  away  from 
people,  Nature  makes  a  protest  and  the  individual 
emphasizes  it.  Fear,  distrust  and  dislike  for  such 
measures  always  add  very  much  to  the  real  distress. 
A  feelmg  of  languor,  gnawing  in  the  stomach,  a 
heaviness  of  the  stomach,  an  ache  or  knotting  of  the 
stomach,  headache,  nausea,  and  many  other  disagree- 
able symptoms  will  be  found  to  follow  a  decrease  in 
the  amount  of  food  or  a  fast.  The  patient  will 
usually  interpret  most  of  these  as  hunger  or  weakness. 
And  curiously  enough  food  will  usually  relieve  the 
distress. 

The  physician  should  be  able  to  properly  interpret 
these  disagreeable  features  of  the  treatment  for  the 
patient,  and  to  so  conduct  the  case  that  they  will  be 
the  least  disagreeable.  Many  of  them  may  be  relieved 
and  palliated  if  understood. 


Food  Fundamentals  175 

It  should  be  known  that  all  these  symptoms  mean 
disease.  If  disease  is  not  present  there  will  be  no  dis- 
tress of  any  kind  from  taking  away  of  food.  Much  of 
the  distress  is  brought  about  by  a  catarrhal  condition 
of  the  stomach  membranes.  The  diseased  stomach 
being  empty  its  walls  are  in  close  contact  and  become 
hot  and  feverish  and  the  glands  and  cells  secrete  a 
thick,  sticky,  tenacious  mucus.  The  feverish  condi- 
tion accounts  for  the  distress  and  when  the  mucus  is 
sufficient  in  quantity  it  accounts  for  the  nausea.  Dis- 
tention with  water,  preferably  hot  water  in  which  is 
a  little  lemon  juice,  will  give  relief  which  will  last  but 
little  longer  than  the  water  remains  in  the  stomach, 
then  the  distention  must  be  renewed  and  kept  up  until 
the  next  meal  time.  It  usually  requires  three  and 
sometimes  six  glasses  of  water  to  properly  distend 
the  stomach  in  these  cases. 

If  the  complaint  is  of  weakness  this  must  be  under- 
stood as  more  apparent  than  real.  It  is  largely  from 
lack  of  stimulation.  When  the  weakness  is  from  lack 
of  stimulation  or  due  to  food-poisoning  then  the  patient 
will  do  well  to  endure  this  until  he  is  rescued. 

"The  weakness  that  is  persistent,  and  continually 
in  evidence,  even  when  the  patient  is  in  bed  or  sitting 
quietly,  and  the  weakness  known  as  getting  up  tired 
of  a  morning,  are  both  produced  by  overstimulation  — 
food-poison. 

A  weakness  that  comes  from  lack  of  nourishment 
is  not  accompanied  by  ill-feeling.  When  the  patient 
is  lying  down  or  sitting,  he  feels  that  he  is  about  as 
capable  of  almost  any  feat  of  strength  as  he  has  ever 


176  Food  Fundamentals 

been ;  yet,  when  he  undertakes  to  do  anything,  he  finds 
that  he  has  scarcely  strength  to  stand  without  support. 
This  is  the  weakness  that  food  will  cure."     (Tilden.) 

Not  every  one  will  experience  a  weakness,  for 
there  are  a  few  who  get  stronger  with  the  decreased 
amount  of  food.  There  is  no  reason  to  conclude  that 
all  the  strength  we  have  comes  from  the  food  we  take. 
There  are  some  very  good  reasons  to  believe  that  much 
of  our  strength  is  derived  from  a  recharging  of  the 
nervous  system.  This  recharging  takes  place  when 
we  rest,  and  the  most  of  it  comes  about  in  that  perfect 
rest  which  accompanies  a  natural  sleep.  Loss  of  the 
needed  amount  of  sleep  plays  havoc  with  the  nervous 
system  and  with  health  in  general.  Food  replaces  waste 
material,  restores  the  wornout  tissues,  and  if  the  body 
is  deprived  of  food  the  nervous  system  soon  loses  any 
capacity  for  being  recharged  with  nervous  energy. 

Another  important  result  of  a  decrease  in  the 
amount  of  food  taken  is  to  intensify  any  existing  con- 
stipation or  to  uncover  a  latent  constipation.  If  this 
is  tolerated  many  of  the  symptoms  from  which  the 
patient  is  complaining  will  be  increased  in  severity. 
It  is  wise  then  to  make  plain  to  the  patient  before  be- 
ginning the  treatment  what  a  latent  constipation  is, 
and  to  take  such  precautions  as  will  prevent  the  con- 
stipation from  becoming  worse.  This  can  usually  be 
done.  But  there  are  cases  where  it  cannot  be  done; 
where  for  a  time  some  symptoms  will  be  worse  and 
the  constipation  may  be  one  of  them. 


Food  Fundamentals  177 

A  common  result  that  causes  much  uneasiness  is 
loss  of  weight.  This  is  inevitable  in  nearly  all  cases, 
and  the  amount  depends  on  the  condition  and  the  total 
of  the  change  in  diet.  But  the  loss  of  weight  is  tem- 
porary for  those  under  weight  and  permanent  for  those 
over  weight.  Those  under  weight  will  begin  to  increase 
in  weight  just  as  soon  as  the  diseased  condition  is  suffi- 
ciently under  control  to  permit  the  assimilation  of  food 
to  become  more  normal  than  it  was. 

I  shall  fail  in  the  task  set  for  myself  if  I  do  not 
make  it  clear  that  a  short  fast  or  a  very  much  reduced 
diet  —  any  radical  diet  measure  —  may  lead  to  trouble 
that  is  very  much  surprising  to  both  patient  and  phy- 
sician, but  the  onlookers  are  usually  sure  of  it  before 
it  occurs,  or  their  remarks  afterward  would  lead  one 
who  took  them  seriously  to  believe  they  knew  all  about 
it.  Nearly  all  cases  will  show  nothing  unusual  that  has 
not  been  pointed  out.  But  some  cases  are  like  a  gas 
bomb  —  already  to  explode  —  and  it  does  not  make 
much  difference  what  is  done  it  will  be  the  match  that 
lights  the  fire;  and  if  something  is  not  done  a  few 
hours'  time  will  bring  on  the  explosion.  They  will 
begin  vomiting,  or  run  a  high  fever,  or  be  attacked  by 
a  deceptive  and  unexplainable  pain,  the  heart  rate  may 
increase  very  greatly,  sleep  may  be  absent,  and  various 
other  manifestations  may  occur  which  are  more  or  less 
serious  to  the  patient  and  confusing  to  the  doctor  who 
will  consult  his  best  authors  on  the  subject  to  find  their 
writings  don't  betray  the  fact  that  they  ever  had  any 
trouble  under  such  circumstances.    The  literature  that 


178  Food  Fundamentals 

has  grown  up  about  the  subject  of  fasting  and  radical 
diet  measures  has  so  unmistakably  failed  to  meet 
squarely  the  issue  that  is  raised  by  the  protests  of 
Nature  against  the  sudden  changing  of  a  fixed  habit 
that  these  measures  are  unjustly  held  in  disrepute  by 
physicians  and  laymen. 

"When  the  system  has  been  poisoned  for  years 
with  wrong  eating  —  wrong  combinations  —  the  habit 
is  fixed,  and  nature  defends  the  habit  by  making  a 
demand  for  its  restoration  when  it  has  been  suspended. 
When  the  food-poisoned  are  deprived  of  their  foods, 
and  food  combinations  that  have  brought  on  the  ener- 
vation that  is  at  the  bottom  of  their  diseases,  many  of 
them  suffer  greatly;  they  declare  they  will  famish; 
that  they  will  go  all-to-pieces ;  that  they  will  surely 
starve  to  death ;  that  they  feel  faint  —  feel  like  collaps- 
ing; they  declare  they  are  so  w-e-a-k,  that  they  must 
have  more  food  or  they  will  die. 

When  it  is  remembered  how  greatly  all  drug  fiends 
suffer  when  the  drug  is  taken  from  them,  it  takes  but 
little  imagination  to  realize  that  nerves  must  suffer 
more  or  less  when  deprived  of  any  accustomed  stim- 
ulation —  less  perhaps  from  foods  than  from  drugs, 
but  the  line  is  not  drawn  very  distinctly  between  foods 
and  drugs;  for  coffee  and  tea,  as  well  as  condiments 
and  spices,  are  drugs,  and  any  food  may  be  made  to 
take  the  place  of  drugs  under  certain  circumstances. 
The  results  of  eating  wrongly  are  the  same  as  results 
from  taking  drugs ;  the  effect  is  to  overstimulate  until 
enervation  takes  place.  What  is  the  condition  in  ener- 
vation ?  A  general  weakness  that  is  in  evidence  all  the 
time,  except  when  the  nervous  system  is  under  the 
influence  of  the  poison  that  has  brought  it  on,  or  under 
the  effect  of  some  other  stimulant  given  as  a  relief  or 
supposed  cure. 

It  is  hard  for  people,  and  even  many  doctors,  to 
understand  that  great  lassitude,  and  even  loss  of  appe- 
tite, follows  the  giving  up  of  the  disease-producing 


Food  Fundamentals  179 

foods,  or  the  habits  common  to  civilization,  and  the 
adopting  of  a  natural,  health-producing  regimen.  The 
disagreeable  symptoms  will  be  interpreted  as  coming 
from  the  change  in  food,  and  ignorance  will  advise  a 
return  to  stuffing  and  erroneous  food  combinations, 
which,  when  done,  will  bring  great  relief!  The  same 
relief,  however,  that  the  whiskey  and  drug  fiends  expe- 
rience in  returning  to  their  stimulants. 

If  the  crime  is  using  coffee  until  the  disease  re- 
sults, the  victim  must  suffer  the  pain  of  want,  and  the 
nervous  system  must  suffer  the  pain  that  must  come  at 
first  from  the  giving-up  of  stimulants.  The  greater 
the  poisonous  action  that  the  food  or  drug  has  had,  the 
greater  the  suffering  that  must  be  experienced  in 
giving  up  the  habit. 

Why  are  people  with  diseases  brought  on  from 
this  manner  of  eating  so  incurable?  Because  it  takes 
so  long  after  the  habit  is  changed  to  get  to  feeling 
right.  Nature  begins  at  once,  as  soon  as  the  habits  are 
righted,  to  get  rid  of  the  influences  of  wrong  life,  but, 
before  the  enervation  is  overcome  and  full  strength 
returns,  the  patient  suffers  many  hours  from  the  dis- 
tress of  weakness  and  longing  for  stimulation." 

(TiLDEN.) 

A  short  fast,  a  fruit-fast,  a  fruit  and  buttermilk 
diet  are  all  radical  measures.  Not  nearly  so  radical  as 
many  other  therapeutic  measures  nor  so  dangerous  as 
the  usual  drugging.  Drugs  so  mask  the  symptoms  of 
disease  that  the  only  clear  picture  one  gets  of  disease 
is  when  drugs  are  out  of  the  system.  The  truth  of  this 
cannot  be  successfully  disputed.  And  what  a  wonder- 
ful revelation  of  the  ignorance  that  must  prevail  about 
disease  does  it  disclose,  for  how  very  few  study  disease 
in  patients  that  are  not  taking  drugs  of  some  kind.  In 
truth  it  is  only  the  drugless  healers  that  can  have  in- 
formation of  this  kind.     There  are  many  who  stand 


180  Food  Fundamentals 

ready  to  condemn  the  radical  measure  of  a  change  in 
diet  because  it  may  lead  to  disagreeable  symptoms. 
But  a  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  patient  and 
what  has  brought  it  about  will  change  the  views  of 
those  who  denounce  these  measures. 

The  symptoms  that  arise  are  not  bad  if  under- 
stood. They  can  usually  be  quite  satisfactorily  ex- 
plained to  the  patient  and  all  concerned,  and  the  patient 
will  proceed  to  show  a  more  normal  condition  in  so 
many  ways  that  no  other  method  of  procedure  will  be 
countenanced  by  those  interested.  There  is  no  phy- 
sician who  is  rewarded  by  a  greater  confidence  of  his 
clientele  than  the  one  who  gets  results  along  the  line 
of  correcting  wrong  habits  of  eating  and  living. 

FOLLOW  THE  IDEA  ACCURATELY. 
In  making  an  endeavor  to  follow  the  ideas  out- 
lined, be  sure  you  have  gained  your  bearings,  squared 
yourself  with  the  situation,  and  that  you  know  what 
it  all  means  and  what  you  are  about.  A  short  time 
ago  these  ideas  were  presented  to  a  patient  in  written 
form  when  he  at  once  gave  assurance  he  had  been  on 
this  diet  for  two  years.  A  week  after  he  gave  the 
same  assurance,  that  he  had  been  on  the  diet  for  two 
years.  Then  I  took  occasion  to  ask  how  many  times 
a  day  he  had  been  eating  bread  during  these  two 
years.  He  replied,  three.  I  also  elicited  further  in- 
formation of  this  kind  from  this  patient,  but  the  thing 
to  be  emphasized  here  is  that  after  reading  and  study- 


Food  Fundamentals  181 

ing  these  fundamentals  he  did  not  see  that  to  eat 
bread  three  times  a  day  was  contrary  to  the  ideas 
presented. 

The  other  day  a  man  who  had  just  given  me 
assurance  he  was  following  my  diet  ideas,  asked  me 
what  I  thought  of  strawberries.  I  replied  that  they 
were  a  good  food.  He  immediately  said  he  ate  them 
three  times  a  day.  He  was  supposed  to  be  eating  one 
fruit  meal,  one  starch  meal,  and  one  protein  meal  a 
day.  And  this  is  about  the  way  fifty  per  cent,  of 
people  follow  a  diet  prescribed  by  a  physician.  They 
are  used  to  being  told,  "Don't  eat  much  meat,"  "Don't 
eat  any  sour  fruit,"  "Eat  plenty  of  lettuce,"  and  they 
think  they  are  on  a  diet  when  they  do  these  specific 
things  and  eat  just  as  usual  in  every  other  respect. 

There  are  those  who  look  and  act  as  though  they 
were  intelligent,  who  will  read  every  word  carefully 
and  declare  they  are  following  out  each  idea  in  full, 
and  yet  will  eat  abundant  bran  and  drink  but  little 
water ;  they  will  put  sugar  on  their  breakfast  oatmeal ; 
they  will  eat  bran  bread  three  times  a  day,  or  take 
a  little  coffee  as  usual,  or  a  piece  of  cake  with  a  meat 
meal,  or  take  bran  bread  with  fruit. 

I  am  frequently  addressed  in  this  manner: 
"Now,  doctor,  just  tell  me  exactly  what  I  should  eat 
and  I  will  follow  your  directions  to  the  letter."  The 
patient  is  sincere,  but  laboring  under  the  im- 
pression that  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  say:  Eat 
much  of  this  or  that;  this  food  is  good  for  you,  etc. 


182  Food  Fundamentals 

If  given  such  instructions  they  simply  add  a  goodly 
quantity  of  the  food  mentioned  to  what  they  are  in 
the  habit  of  eating,  and  they  think  they  are  following 
instructions  to  the  letter.  So  it  should  be  clear  that 
such  methods  of  eating  are  not  methods  of  dieting. 
There  is  work  attached  to  properly  leading  a  sick  per- 
son into  healthful  habits  of  eating.  Their  instruc- 
tions must  be  written  out  explicitly.  Knowledge  of 
this  character  is  not  being  handed  out  by  every 
physician.  That  sick  person  is  fortunate  who  receives 
such  information  and  lacks  proper  appreciation  if  he 
reluctantly  pays  extra  for  it. 

Patients  are  prone  to  demand  immediate  results. 
Results  of  some  kind  follow  immediately,  but  they 
are  not  usually  the  ones  the  patients  so  much  desire. 
It  requires  from  one  to  three  months  to  become  used 
to  eating  a  meal  without  bread  or  starch.  It  requires 
that  long  or  longer  for  some  people  to  become  ad- 
justed to  a  lessened  stimulation.  If  diseases  have 
been  years  in  the  making,  you  can  rest  assured  they 
will  not  be  cured  in  weeks  or  even  months.  Relief 
may  be  obtained  in  hours,  in  some  cases,  but  I  find  it 
well  to  let  cases  go  to  others  rather  than  to  give 
encouragement  that  a  proper  treatment  will  not 
justify. 


Food  Fundamentals  183 

FEEDING  CHILDREN. 

The  space  given  here  to  a  discussion  of  caring  for 
children  is  very  limited  and  the  ideas  are  few  and 
briefly  stated.  If  enough  has  been  said  to  lead  to  in- 
vestigation and  to  point  out  another  way,  the  object 
of  saying  it  is  accomplished.  These  ideas  are  not 
original  with  the  author  but  he  has  found  by  expe- 
rience that  they  work.  The  articles  of  Dr.  J.  H.  Tilden 
on  "Care  of  Children"  should  be  consulted  for  details. 
They  contain  many  confused  and  disconnected  state- 
ments, and  do  not  leave  one  with  a  clear  idea  of  what 
is  to  be  done,  but  they  are  the  best  I  know  of  on  the 
subject. 

Before  a  child  is  born  and  during  its  nursing 
period  it  is  very  much  influenced  by  its  mother's  diet. 
If  the  mother  eats  too  much  and  is  too  heavy  the  child 
will  be  too  fat  and  too  much  stimulated.  It  will  be 
bom  accustomed  to  too  much  stimulation  and  will  wel- 
come highly  flavored  foods  and  much  seasoning.  It 
will  be  precocious  in  many  respects  and  a  dullard  in 
others.  Because  of  overestimulation  children  develop 
sexually  much  earlier  than  they  should.  Eating  to  ex- 
cess of  stimulating  foods  and  those  which  unduly  fer- 
ment and  decompose  on  the  part  of  the  mother  and 
later  by  the  child,  is  the  ruin  of  many  a  boy  and  girl. 
It  destroys  wholesome  human  impulses  and  exposes 
the  flexible,  developing  nervous  system  to  "all  the 
storms  of  unsatisfied  desire."  And  too  often  the  inno- 
cent victim  is  not  much  at  fault,  for  the  deadly  im- 


184  Food  Fundamentals 

pulses  are  forcefully  thrust  on  him  or  her.  Not  a  few 
children  as  they  develop  into  womanhood  or  manhood 
overtax  the  nervous  system  in  a  futile  attempt  to  main- 
tain self-restraint,  and  this  lamentable  condition  is 
only  too  often  the  direct  result  of  bad  habits  of  eating 
taught  in  infancy  and  early  childhood  —  a  tremendous 
verdict  against  ignorance. 

A  prospective  mother  should  eat  but  three  meals 
a  day  and  those  should  be  moderate  in  size.  She  does 
not  have  to  "eat  for  two."  That  is  some  more  wrong 
teaching.  If  she  eats  a  bite  more  than  she  can  prop- 
erly digest,  she  fails  to  eat  properly  for  one.  A  little 
well  digested  will  furnish  nutritious  material  of  a  pure 
character  while  a  little  or  much  poorly  digested  supplies 
poisons. 

An  infant  should  sleep  nearly  all  the  time.  It 
should  not  be  awakened  for  food  or  anything  else. 
Handling  it  unnecessarily,  showing  it  off,  taking  it  on 
journeys  and  to  parties  are  not  measures  that  are  con- 
ducive to  health. 

"Mothers  cannot  heed  the  injunction  too  strictly 
of  securing  twenty-three  and  a  half  hours'  sleep  out  of 
every  twenty-four  for  the  first  few  weeks,  and  at  all 
times  avoiding  the  silly  practice  of  making  a  show  of 
a  baby. 

Children  a  year  old  should  sleep  half  the  day  and 
all  the  night.  After  the  second  year,  parents  should 
see  to  it  that  children  up  to  seven  years  of  age  sleep 
one  or  two  hours  each  forenoon  and  two  hours  in  the 
afternoon.  They  should  be  put  to  bed  at  seven  or  eight 
o'clock  on  summer  evenings,  and  seven  o'clock  on  win- 
ter evenings.    Six  o'clock  is  the  proper  time  to  get  up 


Food  Fundamentals  185 

of  a  summer  morning,  and  seven  o'clock  during  the 
cold  weather."    (Tilden.) 

From  the  first  day  on  a  child  should  be  offered 
water  frequently.  At  any  time  there  is  a  sign  of  rest- 
lessness between  the  regular  feeding  times  a  little  un- 
seasoned warm  water  should  be  offered.  Infants  often 
suffer  for  water  and  take  food  because  they  are  thirsty 
and  the  food  is  offered  them.  If  an  adult  is  given  a 
liquid  food  instead  of  water  it  will  make  him  sick,  and 
this  is  just  the  treatment  that  is  thoughtlessly  handed 
out  to  many  a  helpless  infant  incapable  of  protesting. 
Water  is  the  only  thing  that  a  child  should  be  permitted 
to  drink;  any  liquid  food  should  be  sipped  or  nursed 
from  a  nipple. 

From  the  first  day  on  a  baby  should  be  fed  but 
three  times  a  day  and  not  at  all  at  night.  The  extreme 
number  of  times  should  be  four,  at  six,  ten,  two,  and 
six.  If  the  child  is  doing  well  on  the  mother's  milk, 
let  well  enough  alone.  Give  it  no  other  food  until  it  is 
ready  to  wean,  not  even  a  taste  of  anything. 

If  the  child  is  not  getting  enough  food  from  the 
mother's  milk,  a  small  amount  of  cow's  milk  may  be 
given.  But  this  should  not  be  done  until  the  proper 
attention  has  been  given  to  directing  the  mother  how 
to  live,  or  the  proper  treatment  administered.  The 
cow's  milk  if  given  in  very  small  quantities  at  first  may 
be  given  undiluted,  only  a  few  spoons  in  addition  to 
what  is  nursed  from  the  mother.    Or  it  may  be  diluted 


186  Food  Fundamentals 

with  water.  Or  it  may  be  modified  in  the  usual  man- 
ner. 

If  for  any  reason  other  food  is  to  be  given  it  should 
be  fruit  or  vegetable  juices.  If  four  feedings  are  given 
the  fruit  or  vegetable  juice  may  be  given  at  ten  or  two. 
Fruit  juice  may  be  used  one  day  and  vegetable  juices 
the  next.  Raw  fruits  and  raw  vegetables  should  be 
used,  not  cooked  ones,  and  these  should  be  used  with- 
out any  seasoning  at  all.  Oranges,  apples,  grapes, 
pineapples,  dewberries,  blackberries,  and  raspberries 
are  among  the  leading  fruits  for  this  purpose,  and  the 
pineapple,  dewberry,  and  black  berry  are  the  choice 
of  these.  For  the  young  child  crush  the  juice  out  of 
these  and  permit  it  to  take  what  it  likes  from  a  spoon, 
or  from  a  nipple.  For  the  next  day  crush  the  juice 
from  any  of  the  non-starchy  vegetables  and  feed  it 
without  seasoning.  Lettuce,  celery,  onions,  carrots, 
turnips,  and  cucumbers  are  among  the  best,  and  don't 
omit  the  cucumbers. 

There  are  many  mothers  and  physicians  who  will 
decry  such  feeding,  but  they  will  permit  the  use  of 
mashed  potatoes,  eggs,  and  graham  crackers,  and  then 
add  soda  and  magnesia  to  help  the  baby  digest  the 
food.  A  little  thinking  will  justify  the  conclusion  that 
these  vegetable  and  fruit  juices  are  far  more  desirable 
for  the  infant  stomach  than  any  starch  or  protein. 
And  a  little  experience  along  this  line  will  convince 
one  without  thought  or  study. 

No  exact  rule  covering  the  amount  a  child  should 


Food  Fundamentals  187 

be  given  can  be  made,  but  it  can  be  truthfully  asserted 
and  with  emphasis  that  most  children  are  fed  too 
much,  and  that  this  comes  about  from  feeding  too 
often.  If  but  three  or  four  meals  a  day  be  given  then 
it  is  pretty  safe  to  permit  the  child  to  eat  what  it  wants. 
But  if  it  is  stuffed  every  two  or  three  hours,  including 
the  night  time,  then  it  is  overfed,  even  if  the  amount 
of  each  feeding  is  small. 

People  don't  live  normal  lives  and  for  this  reason 
a  child  will  cry  when  young  even  if  fed  as  I  say.  They 
suffer  from  nervous  influences  over  which  they  have 
no  control.  They  date  back  of  birth.  Diet  is  not  every- 
thing, even  if  it  is  important. 

A  bottle  baby  should  be  fed  on  the  same  plan. 
Cow's  milk  is  the  best  substitute  for  mother's  milk. 
It  may  be  modified,  but  the  best  way  to  modify  it  is 
to  dilute  it  with  water,  and  keep  on  diluting  it  until 
it  agrees  with  the  baby. 

"Try  first  the  addition  of  a  quantity  of  water  equal 
to  the  milk.  It  is  quite  rare  that  the  proportion  of 
water  should  be  less  than  this.  Frequently,  the  quan- 
tity should  be  three  or  four  times  as  great  as  the  quan- 
tity of  milk.  And  if  the  little  one  still  vomits,  give 
instead  of  milk  at  every  feeding,  once  or  twice  a  day, 
buttermilk.  This  is  particularly  grateful  to  most  sen- 
sitive stomachs.  If,  notwithstanding  this  management, 
there  is  derangement  of  the  digestive  apparatus,  try, 
occasionally,  diluted  cream,  for  there  are  often  found 
conditions  of  the  stomach,  in  these  half  motherless 
ones,  with  which  the  cheese  matter  of  cow's  milk  does 
not  agree.  The  hundred  and  one  substitutes  which  are 
sold  at  the  drug  stores  and  groceries  are  but  poor,  un- 
nutritious,  unsatisfactory  stuffs."     (Dio  Lewis). 


188  Food  Fundamentals 

The  difference  between  mother's  milk  and  cow's 
milk  would  not  be  so  great  if  mothers  lived  a  more 
normal  life  and  if  their  food  was  more  suitable  to  their 
needs.  The  infant  should  have  to  work  for  its  food  by 
pulling  hard  on  the  nipple.  They  should  not  gulp  it 
down  in  large  mouthfuls. 

The  food  for  the  first  year  may  be  nothing  but 
milk.  But  if  anything  additional  is  used  it  should  be 
fruit  and  vegetable  juices  as  explained  above.  And 
sometimes  it  is  important  to  use  them.  In  any  case 
showing  malnutrition  or  symptoms  of  rickets  these 
vegetables  and  fruit  juices  should  be  used.  In  some 
cases  of  constipation  they  may  be  used  to  advantage. 

The  rich  starchy  foods  should  not  be  used  in  any 
form  until  the  child  is  about  a  year  old.  Dry,  toasted, 
yeastless  bread  should  be  given  them  as  the  first  food 
of  this  nature.  This  will  teach  them  to  chew  starches, 
and  they  will  eat  but  a  small  quantity  at  first  which 
will  be  digested  quite  a  little  in  the  mouth.  During  the 
second  year  this  will  wisely  constitute  about  all  the 
rich  starchy  food  they  should  have,  and  if  for  any 
reason  any  other  is  given  it  should  be  of  a  nature  that 
requires  chewing.  Non-starchy  vegetables,  raw  and 
cooked,  and  fruits,  raw  and  cooked,  may  be  added  to 
the  dietary  of  the  child  during  the  second  year.  But 
milk  should  compose  the  bulk  of  the  diet  of  the  second 
year  and  it  should  be  the  protein  given.  Eggs,  nuts, 
meat  or  meat  broths,  cheese,  etc.,  should  not  be  given 
until  the  third  year. 


Food  Fundamentals  189 

No  sugar  should  be  given  to  a  child  under  three 
years  of  age,  none  at  all;  not  in  the  form  of  candy, 
cake,  ice  cream,  or  in  any  other  form.  If  you  want 
to  lay  the  foundation  for  trouble  and  disease  in  your 
child  then  feed  it  oatmeal  or  cream  of  wheat  with 
sugar  on  them.  These  foods  will  build  adenoids,  dis- 
eased tonsils,  enlarged  glands  of  the  neck,  skin  dis- 
eases, and  all  catarrhal  and  glandular  conditions  in 
young  children. 

The  rich  starchy  food  as  mentioned  above  should 
not  be  used  more  than  once  a  day  during  the  second 
year  and  that  should  be  at  regular  meal  time.  The 
child  should  be  given  the  bread  to  chew  without  mois- 
tening it  with  milk  or  juices  of  any  nature.  And  it 
should  not  be  hurried  through  its  meal  so  the  dishes 
can  be  cleared  away  or  to  accommodate  the  needs  of 
adults.    It  should  be  given  plenty  of  time  to  eat. 

In  the  third  year  the  amount  of  starch  may  be 
increased,  giving  two  meals  of  starch  two  or  three 
days  out  of  the  week.  And  a  few  meals  each  week  of 
the  rich  protein  foods  may  be  given  in  the  third  year, 
cottage  cheese,  eggs  or  meat.  Meat  broth,  as  it  is 
usually  made,  is  to  be  shunned  as  a  food  for  children  or 
for  the  sick.  It  is  not  nutritious  and  does  not  suit  the 
needs  of  the  body ;  there  are  reasons  to  believe  it  forms 
toxins. 

In  making  up  the  meals  of  starch  in  the  second 
year  it  is  well  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  to  have 
starch  and  milk  compose  the  entire  meal.    When  any 


190  Food  Fundamentals 

other  foods  are  to  be  used  in  combination  the  com- 
bining should  be  as  for  adults.  If  children  are  given 
vegetable  juices  in  early  infancy  and  on  they  will  not 
have  to  be  trained  to  like  the  taste  of  vegetables.  But 
it  is  necessary  to  do  the  training  when  the  vegetables 
will  not  be  eaten  without  it.  Parents  must  control 
their  children  and  teach  them,  and  the  parent  who 
fails  in  this  is  not  a  friend  of  the  child  but  hastens  it 
on  its  way  to  sickness  and  ill-health.  Lack  of  control 
of  children  builds  disease  just  as  surely  as  does  wrong 
habits  of  eating. 

In  the  third  year,  when  protein  is  given,  combine 
as  for  adults.  If  started  off  in  this  manner  a  child 
will  eat  eggs  without  bread  just  as  readily  as  with  it. 
These  things  are  largely  habit.  The  egg  should  be 
used  as  the  basis  of  a  protein  meal.  But  it  is  well  to 
remember  that  a  child  raised  in  the  manner  suggested 
here  will  not  use  much  of  a  variety  of  foods  at  one 
meal.  They  will  frequently  eat  all  they  want  of  one 
thing  and  this  is  the  proper  thing  to  let  them  do,  pro- 
vided, of  course,  that  the  same  thing  is  not  given  them 
for  the  next  meal  and  the  next. 

When  osteopaths  give  more  attention  to  diet  and 
general  care  of  infants  and  children  more  of  them  will 
be  placed  in  their  care.  No  other  physician  will  suc- 
ceed in  scaring  parents  about  the  "heavy  hand  and 
killing  treatment"  of  a  careful  osteopath.  At  the 
present  writing  the  author  is  caring  for  six.  Three  of 
these  are  less  than  four  years  old  and  have  bad  hemor- 


Food  Fundamentals  191 

rhoid  conditions.     One  is  one  month  old  and  like  all 

the  rest  is  suffering  from  bowel  disturbance.     In  all 

these  cases  the  prominent  feature  of  any  treatment  is 

care  and  diet.     The  osteopathic  treatment  for  these 

little  ones  is  helpful  and  welcomed  by  them,  but  any 

thoughtful  person  will  know  that  the  osteopathic  lesion 

is  not  the  cause  of  these  troubles  except  in  rare  cases. 

Drugs  are  not  indicated  according  to  the  best  medical 

authorities,  but   physicians   do   not  regard   the  best 

authorities  in  practice.    Giving  soda  and  magnesia  to 

these  children  is  drugging  them  in  a  harmful  manner. 

"How  are  parents  to  know  when  children  are  well  ? 
They  will  not  be  fat;  they  will  not  have  a  white  line 
about  the  nose  and  mouth;  they  will  not  have  a  bad 
breath  or  a  breath  of  irritation ;  they  will  not  be  cranky 
and  cross ;  they  will  not  be  restless  at  night,  calling  for 
water;  they  will  not  be  nervous,  irritable,  and  ready 
to  cry  at  anything  and  everything. 

The  child  that  cries  with  pain  in  its  legs,  and  is 
so  nervous  when  tired  —  after  a  day  of  excitement 
and  play  —  that  it  cannot  sleep,  and,  when  it  does 
sleep,  moans,  tosses,  and  kicks  the  covering  off,  has  in- 
digestion, and  is  troubled  daily  with  stomach  acidity 
and  more  or  less  constipation.  This  acid  state  causes 
the  rheumatism  which  is  erroneously  called  growing- 
pains. 

Children  can  be  in  this  state,  and  pass  as  in  ordi- 
nary health,  and  excite  no  special  notice  from  mother, 
teacher,  or  even  doctor,  unless  said  doctor  happens  to 
be  school  inspector;  then  he  may  find  adenoids,  en- 
larged tonsils,  or  eye-strain;  all  of  which  will  mean 
surgical  operations  and  eyeglasses.  Most  medical  men 
of  this  class  will  see  nothing  behind  the  adenoids,  en- 
larged tonsils,  and  eye  derangements.  Each  of  these 
diseases  will  be  treated  as  a  cause,  and  when  the  doctor 


192  Food  Fundamentals 

succeeds  in  having  it  removed  he  congratulates  the 
parents  on  the  cure  of  their  children. 

I  say  there  is  no  need  of  sick  children  being  the 
rule,  and  healthy  children  the  exception;  and  I  know 
that  this  state  exists  because  of  criminal  ignorance. 
And  this  ignorance  is  not  confined  to  laymen;  it  has 
its  origin  among  medical  men,  the  majority  of  whom 
do  not  know  enough  about  diet  to  be  intrusted  with 
the  feeding  of  pigs,  not  to  mention  their  incapacity  for 
directing  the  feeding  of  children. 

No  greater  dietetic  crime  can  be  committed  than 
to  feed  children  fruit  and  cereals  for  breakfast.  The 
desire  of  the  child  should  be  consulted,  and  if  it  pre- 
fers fruit  to  any  other  food,  it  may  have  all  the  fruit 
it  wants,  with  milk,  but  positively  no  bread  nor  cereals 
of  any  kind. 

Parents  should  train  children  into  eating  very 
little  salt.  When  food  cannot  be  relished  without  a 
decided  flavor  of  salt,  it  is  time  to  reform ;  a  fast  should 
be  taken  until  a  relish  comes  back  for  food  slightly,  or 
not  at  all,  seasoned. 

Breakfast  foods  and  fruit  in  some  form,  or  fruit 
between  meals  following  or  preceding  starchy  meals, 
cause  much  sickness  every  year  among  children;  in- 
deed, eating  between  meals  and  eating  unsuitable  mix- 
tures lay  the  foundation  on  which  atmospheric,  local, 
and  domestic  influences  build  endemics  and  epidemics. 

Close  housing,  or  ill  ventilation,  and  neglect  of  the 
skin  by  over-clothing  and  sleeping  under  too  much 
covering,  added  to  the  consumption  of  too  much  food, 
prepare  children,  as  well  as  grown  people,  for  the 
grafting  of  environmental  and  atmospheric  disease- 
producing  causes  upon  them. 

Children  must  be  fed,  clothed,  and  housed  right, 
if  society  would  avoid  building  crime.  Nervous  irri- 
tations and  mental  perversions  originate  in  gastro- 
intestinal derangements  brought  on  from  foods  im- 
properly prepared  and  wrongly  combined,  plus  bad 
air,  improper  clothing,  and  poor  discipline. 


Food  Fundamentals  193 

Babies  should  be  allowed  to  remain  nude  sev- 
eral hours  daily.  They  must  be  inured  to  the  cold- 
sponge  bath  and  lots  of  dry-towel  or  hand-rubbing  to 
the  entire  surface  of  their  bodies.  When  the  sun  is 
not  too  hot,  children  should  be  allowed  to  play  in  it, 
or  in  a  room  with  a  glass  roof  and  sides.  Indeed,  the 
playroom  for  winter  should  be  on  this  order. 

Children  can't  eat  bread  and  butter;  there  must 
be  syrup,  honey,  or  some  sweet  preparation  of  fruit, 
to  please  or  coax  the  palate.  The  cause  of  overeating 
in  childhood  is  the  use  that  is  made  of  sweet  dressings. 
Few  children  will  eat  too  much  toasted  bread  and 
butter,  followed  with  a  glass  of  milk,  and  there  are  few 
who  will  not  overeat  on  bread,  butter  and  jelly,  pre- 
serves, or  syrup.  Few  will  eat  too  much  oatmeal  mush, 
rice,  or  dry  breakfast  foods,  when  the  mush  and  rice 
are  dressed  with  milk,  and  the  dry  foods  are  dressed 
with  a  little  melted  butter  and  eaten  dry,  and  followed 
with  milk ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  sugar  and  cream 
are  freely  furnished,  twice  as  much  as  necessary  will 
be  eaten. 

Three  meals  a  day  only,  of  milk  from  either  a  con- 
tinent mother,  or  a  properly-cared-for  cow  or  dairy 
herd,  will  bring  a  child  to  the  end  of  the  first  year  in 
good  health.  It  may  not  be  so  large  as  convention's 
requirements,  but  it  will  be  many  degrees  healthier 
and  of  more  resistance. 

Milk  and  fruit  three  times  a  day,  or  milk,  all  de- 
sired, twice  a  day,  and  all  the  fruit  desired  once  a  day, 
is  the  proper  feeding  for  the  second  year."      (Tilden)  . 

Dr.  Tilden's  statement  about  what  should  be  fed 
during  the  third  year  would  not  be  of  use  to  any  other 
than  one  who  had  followed  the  general  trend  of  his 
ideas  a  long  time.  It  is  one  of  his  characteristic  par- 
agraphs in  which  the  information  cannot  well  be 
grouped  for  ready  use.  Without  a  knowledge  of  all 
his  writings  it  is  not  intelligible,  therefore  it  is  not 


194  Food  Fundamentals 

quoted  here.     The  following  paragraphs  were  given 
without  reference  to  age: 

"Breakfast:  If  children  have  porridge  and  milk 
for  breakfast,  they  should  make  a  meal  of  it.  If  toasted 
bread,  butter,  and  milk  is  eaten,  that  and  that  alone 
should  be  given.  It  is  a  mistake  to  give  two  kinds  of 
starchy  foods  for  breakfast.  Why?  Because  a  child 
(as  well  as  grown  folk)  will  eat  all  the  porridge  it 
wants,  and  needs,  and  will  not  eat  more  unless  tempted 
with  toast  and  butter,  or  some  other  food. 

Lunch :  Fruit,  cooked  or  raw,  with  cottage  cheese 
or  ordinary  cream  cheese,  followed  with  milk;  or,  if 
fruit  is  not  wanted,  or  for  an  occasional  change,  sponge 
cake,  or  ginger  bread,  or  cookies,  all  desired,  followed 
with  milk;  in  hot  weather  a  dish  of  ice-cream  twice 
a  week,  with  the  cake  named,  or  pie,  or  a  cup  of  custard. 

Dinner :  A  large  plate  of  combination  salad,  with 
two  cooked  vegetables,  one  egg;  if  preferred,  corn 
bread,  butter,  and  milk.  Milk  toast  made  from  old 
bread  occasionally.  It  is  not  a  good  food  to  eat  often, 
because  it  is  swallowed  without  saliva. 

Breakfasts  for  school  boys  and  girls  should  be: 
oatmeal  mush,  or  commeal  mush,  and  unskimmed 
milk ;  or  dry  breakfast  foods  with  butter,  followed  with 
milk;  biscuits,  butter,  and  honey,  followed  with  milk, 
not  oftener  than  twice  a  week;  for  Sunday  morning, 
cakes  or  muffins  or  waffles,  butter,  maple  syrup,  and 
milk ;  positively  no  sugar  with  the  breakfast  foods,  and 
no  eating  between  meals. 

Lunch:  All  the  fruit  desired;  once  a  week,  pie 
and  milk ;  once  a  week,  plain  cake  and  milk. 

Dinner :  Meat,  fish,  chicken,  cheese,  or  nuts,  with 
non-starchy  vegetables  and  a  salad  or  a  slaw,  every 
other  day;  the  alternate  days,  instead  of  meat:  pota- 
toes, corn  bread,  navy  or  butter  beans,  with  cooked 
non-starchy  vegetables  and  salad  or  slaw,  leaving 
lemon  juice  out  of  the  salad. 


Food  Fundamentals  195 

When  whole-wheat  bread,  butter,  and  milk  are 
preferred  for  dinner,  it  can  be  eaten  in  place  of  the 
meat  and  vegetables. 

When  lessons  are  hard  and  the  student  is  falling 
behind,  eating  should  be  light:  fruit  for  breakfast; 
milk  for  lunch ;  and  toasted  bread  and  milk  for  dinner. 
If  necessary  to  fast  a  day  or  two,  to  clear  the  mind 
and  help  it  to  concentrate,  it  should  be  done;  for  it  is 
dangerous  to  allow  a  pupil  to  drop  behind  his  class 
because  of  a  hazy  state  of  the  mind  brought  on  by 
heavy  eating.  The  majority  of  failures  in  life  begin 
in  the  discouragement  brought  on  by  dropping  behind 
in  the  studies  at  school.  Wrong  eating  is  the  primary 
cause. 

If  children's  appetites  are  not  pampered  and 
spoiled  by  giving  unsuitable  foods,  the  amount  of  un- 
suitable foods  may  be  given  to  full  satisfaction.  Gor- 
mandizing comes  from  eating  too  often,  and  of  too 
great  a  variety,  and  of  unsuitable  foods."     (Tilden)  . 


INDEX 


A 

Accumulative    poisoning 50 

Air  127 

Air    baths 130 

Amount  to  be  eaten 35,  87 

Appetite'. 47 

Apples    120 

Apple   Dumplings 136 

Autotoxemia 51,  54 

A  well  balanced  dietary 32 

B 

Bananas  80 

Bathing  130 

Balanced   Dietary 32 

Beans,    mature 148 

Beef  95 

Beefsteak   96 

Bran    126 

Bread    84 

Bread,   yeastless 86 

Broil  any  meat,  how  to 99 

C 

Cabbage    112 

Candy    137 

Care  of  skin 130 

Chicken  99 

Children,  when  they  are  well 191 

Chocolate   28 

Choosing   a  physician 7 

Clothing    128 

Coffee    28,  30 

Combinations 79,  80,  90,  91,  115,  118,  138-148 

Condiments   30 

Constipation    60 

Constipating  foods  66 

Cooking  of  eggs 101-103 

Cooking  of  fruit 114 

Cooking  of  meat 95-100 

Cooking   of  starch 83 

Cooking  of  vegetables 107 

Cucumbers  Ill 

D 

Daily   dietary 148,  156 

Deceptive  nature  of  intestinal  disorders 55 

Diet,  fruit 165 


Diet,  fruit  and  sour  milk 169 

Diet,  how  to  use 159 

Diet,    raw 170 

Diet,   regular 168 

Dietary,  well  balanced 82 

Digestion,  physiology  of 138-140 

Disease   not  inherited 29 

Drinks  at  meal  time 157 

Drugs  23,  179 

E 

Eggs 100 

Enema    65,  100 

P 

Fasting  161 

Fat  121 

Fear    72 

Feeding   Children 183 

Flour    84 

Follow  the  idea  accurately 180 

Foods 76 

Food   drinks 131,  157 

Foods  rich  in  mature  starch 76 

Foods  rich  in  protein 86 

Food  tables,  value  of 33,  34 

Fragmentary  information 3,  160 

Fruit 118 

Fruit  diet 165 

Fruit  fast  165 

Fruit    meal 149.150 

Fruit   pie 136 

Fruit  and  sour  milk 169 

Full  meal 149 

G 

Germs    11 

Grief    73 

H 

Hope    74 

Hot  Cakes 136 

Hot- water  tea 157 

How  to  use  diet 159 

I 

Ice  cream 123 

Indulgences  135 

L 

Light  meal 149 

Liquid  diet 173 


M 

Malted  milk 123 

Meal,    a    balanced 32,  34 

Meal,    fruit 149,  150 

Meal,  full...„ 149 

Meal,  light 149 

Meal,    protein 149,  154 

Meal,   starch 149,  155 

Meal,   vegetable 149,  153 

Meat    89-100 

Melon   116 

Mental   attitude 72 

Menus 152,  156,  193-195 

Milk  122,  147,  172 

Milk  diet 172 

N 

Nature  of  disease 29,  49 

Non-starchy  vegetables , 103 

O 

Onions  112 

Osteopathic   Lesion 69 

Overeating   ...„ 36 

P 

Pancakes   135,  136 

Peach    cobbler 136 

Physology  of  digestion 138-140 

Pickles    138 

Pie    136,  137 

Plum   pudding 136 

Poached    eggs 103 

Point  of  View 3 

Pork    _ 97 

Pot    Roast 96 

Prepared   foods 81 

Preparation  of  starch 83 

Protein    foods 86 

Protein  meal 149,  154 

Ptomaine  poisoning  51 

Pumpkin  138 

R 

Radishes  113 

Raw  fruits  and  non-starchy  vegetables 170 

Regular    diet 168 

Rhubarb    119 

Roast   beef 95 

Roast  pork 99 

Round   steak 97 


s 

Salads    90,  108 

Salt    133 

Sauer  kraut 138 

School   lunches 83,     92 

Scrambled  eggs 103 

Self-pity   74 

Soda-fountain  drinks 28 

Soft-cooked  eggs 102 

Special  diets 165-174 

Squash     113 

Starch  meal 149,  155 

Starch,  raw 44,     45 

Starchy  foods 76 

Steamed    eggs 102 

Stewed  pork 98 

Strawberry   shortcake 136 

Sugar    124 

T 

Tea    28,     29 

Tilden  salad 90 

Tobacco  31 

Tomatoes    120 

Trouble   175 

U 
Use  common  sense „ 158 

V 

Vegetable  meal 149,  153 

Vegetables,   non-starchy 103 

Vegetable   salads 90,  108 

Vegetable  soup 108 

Ventilation   129 

Vinegar  121 

W 

Water 131 

Water-drinking     131,  132 

Worry    73 

Y 

Yeast  82 

Yeastless   bread 86 


Date  Due 

1 

1 

1 

1 

PRINTED  IN  U.S.A.              CAT.    NO.   24    161               BBS 

WBi+00 

B36Tf 
1916 
Bean,  Elijah  H. 

Food  fundamentals 


wbUoo 

B367f 
1916 
Bean,  Elijah  H. 
Focd  fundamentals 


MEDICAL  SCIENCES  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  IRVINE 

IRVINE,  CALIFORNIA  92664 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

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A     000  510  005 


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Presented  by 
Merlin  L.  Brubaker^  D.  0. 


COLLEGE  OF  OSTEOPATHIC  PHYSICIANS 
AND  SURGEONS  •  LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA 


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